Apartheid policies adversely affected the health and social status of South African children. South Africa adopted the conceptual framework of the health promoting schools network (HPSN) to address school health comprehensively. The HPSN emphasizes school environment, community involvement, policy development, and appropriate health and social…

Nebraska's plan for comprehensively evaluating school health programs used the Targeting Outcomes of Program framework to measure impact indicators of such programs. Following focus group meetings with stakeholders in one rural school district, the plan was developed and implemented as a statewide evaluation of comprehensive school health…

Elementary students with asthma from 74 Milwaukee schools participated in the Awesome Asthma School Day program to improve their health. Pre- and post-program surveys indicated that participants lived with many asthma-related problems and lacked asthma self-care tools. The program improved their expectations about play and sleep and their…

Describes how secondary teachers can use cooperative learning groups to enhance students' health-related cultural awareness. Students work in teams to complete various activities and projects that introduce them to health problems prevalent among specific U.S. groups and the community health methods used to address the problems. Throughout the…

Examines progress in the research on adolescent sexual behavior and pregnancy over the past 20 years, discussing advances in research methodology in five areas, advances in understanding teen pregnancy and finding solutions to problems in five areas, and two new research-based pillars for pregnancy prevention (sex- and HIV-education programs and…

The SunSafe program promoted sun protection among rural New Hampshire children in elementary schools and day-care centers using education and outreach. The program was part of a randomized, controlled trial. Evaluation involved parent and teacher feedback, caregiver interviews, student testing, and observation. Results indicated that the program…

Examines the first phase of a comprehensive evaluation plan for Nebraska's public school health programs. The evaluation used the Targeting Outcomes of Programs framework to gather parents' perspectives about program benefits. Surveys of parents from 60 school districts indicated that most parents supported funding health programs and believed…

Discusses research which suggested that building specific developmental assets among adolescents related to lowered risk-behavior patterns and increased patterns of thriving behavior among an aggregate sample of nearly 100,000 secondary school students in 213 U.S. communities. The paper discusses issues related to the scientific foundations,…

Surveys of directors of special education, Medicaid, and public health departments in all 50 states examined the financing arrangements covering health-related services for students with special health care needs in the schools. Results indicated that schools tapped traditional health resources to supplement educational dollars in paying for…

Examined adolescents' perceptions of weight relative to actual weight, investigating their prevalence of weight losing and gaining. Data from the 1994-96 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health indicated that most adolescents worked to manage their weight, struggled with weight perception, engaged in appropriate weight change efforts, and…

Examines 15 common myths about adolescent suicide, presenting the actual facts corresponding to each. The myths relate to such issues as prevalence, warning signs, education about suicide, differences between males and females, common methods of adolescent suicide, mental illness and suicide, suicide prevention, genetic factors, poverty and…

Obligation to obtain informed consent for student participation in health-related research creates complex legal, ethical, and administrative responsibilities. This paper traces the historical impetus behind informed consent, identifies key elements comprising informed consent, reviews types of consent procedures used in schools, and suggests ways…

Evaluated the effectiveness of the first year of "Safer Choices," a two-year, multicomponent HIV, STD, and pregnancy-prevention program for high school students based on social theory. Student self-report surveys indicated that "Safer Choices" succeeded in reducing selected risk behaviors and in enhancing selected protective behaviors. The…

Investigated mothers' perceptions of factors contributing to school violence. Surveys of mothers of junior high school students in urban and suburban settings suggested no significant overall differences in perceptions of predisposing factors among urban and suburban mothers. Most did not perceive characteristics of urbanicity as contributing…

Used data from the National Longitudinal Adolescent Health Survey to examine whether female adolescents who were attempting weight loss differed from those were not attempting weight loss with respect to several psychosocial factors. Results indicated significant differences between dieters and nondieters. Self-esteem was the strongest…