American Journal of Health Education

BACKGROUND: Physical Education is a key component to improve youth health, but there is limited information on Physical Education delivery in different formats. PURPOSE: We compared PE formats (in-person versus remote) across evaluation aspects: weekly minutes; perceived effectiveness; and student-to-teacher ratio. METHODS: We distributed questionnaires (2020-2021 school year) to school contacts who represented NFL Play 60 FitnessGram® Project (n=216) schools in multiple US cities...

BACKGROUND: Personal Health literacy (PHL) is essential in cardiovascular risk management. Hindrances in PHL can lead to poor cardiovascular outcomes. PURPOSE: To investigate whether limited PHL is associated with lower likelihoods of i) overall cardiovascular health and ii) individual cardiovascular health components as defined by the American Heart Association's Life Simple (LS7). METHODS: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis participants (N=3719; median age[range]: 59[45-84]) completed a PHL questionnaire in 2016-2018...

BACKGROUND: Poor sleep is commonplace among traditional entry university students. Lifestyle modifications, such as time management behaviors, may improve sleep quality by allocating sufficient time for sleep and mitigating stress-associated sleep latency inefficiencies. PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to evaluate time management behaviors as predictors of sleep quality in traditional entry university students. We hypothesized time management behaviors would predict perceived control of time, which in turn, would predict global sleep quality...

BACKGROUND: Knowing which theoretical constructs work best to design effective interventions is essential for populations with increased disease burden. African American women (AAW) experience greater prevalence of chronic diseases and fewer benefits from weight loss interventions compared to White women. PURPOSE: To examine how theoretical constructs were associated with lifestyle behaviors and weight outcomes in the Better Me Within (BMW) Randomized Trial. METHODS: BMW used a tailored diabetes prevention program implemented in churches among AAW with BMI ≥ 25...

BACKGROUND: Engaging minorities in research especially in Montana where Latinos make up a small percentage of the population can be a challenge. We describe an effort to recruit Latinos into a research study by hosting a health screening event. PURPOSE: This event served as the first step in the creation of an academic-community partnership. METHODS: We formed an interdisciplinary research team and involved key community stakeholders in planning a health screening event...

Background: The Healthy Men, Health Communities program aims to improve preventive behaviors among African American men to reduce HPV-related cancer disparities. Purpose: We describe the development of an educational intervention using cultural-targeting strategies (i.e., linguistics, peripherals, evidence, socio-culture, and constituent-involving). Methods: After building capacity of community-based organization (CBO) leaders as research team members, we conducted 3 focus groups, 30 surveys, and a community review and program evaluation with African American men...

BACKGROUND: Understanding how and where children accumulate their physical activity (PA) and sedentary minutes throughout the day has important implications for behavioral interventions. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the duration and intensity of habitual PA and sedentary time (SED) at and away from school among preadolescent children. METHODS: Data from twenty-one children ages 7-11 (57% girls; 57% non-white; 24% overweight/obese) were included in this analysis...

BACKGROUND: Graduate school environments are recognized for contributing to elevated stress levels among student populations. PURPOSE: The objective was to test whether a behavioral intervention, delivered through an online course on behavior change, is effective in preventing declining mental health. METHODS: Data were collected via a quasi-experimental longitudinal study to observe the effect of self-directed behavioral interventions on mental health...

BACKGROUND: There is a need to understand how schools adopt physical activity approaches (curricula, programs and practices), but few studies report on this process. PURPOSE: To obtain elementary school staff's perspectives regarding how their schools are currently adopting physical activity approaches. METHODS: We recruited 15 participants from four job types in an urban Texas school district to participate in semi-structured interviews. We coded and analyzed interviews using directed content analysis and iterative categorization...

Background: Cardiometabolic risk factors are related to the early onset of chronic health conditions. Purpose: To identify factors associated with perceptions about the severity of three interrelated cardiometabolic risks (i.e., high blood pressure, obesity, and cardiovascular disease) among U.S. college students. Methods: Data were analyzed from 1,361 college students using an internet-delivered survey. Least squares regression models were fitted...

Background: Numeracy is one's ability to use numbers in context and influence's decision making and perceptions of health risk. Worry about lung cancer1 is an indicator of perceived risk2 and is related to interest in cessation and cancer screening. Purpose: The analysis sought to explore underlying relationships among worry about lung cancer, smoking-related disease risk perceptions, and numeracy in a web-based panel. Methods: A Web-based survey, including a numeracy measure, was completed by 1,682 participants aged 18-65 recruited in 2014...

Background: Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs) are associated with college students' varied alcohol consumption. Existing research on AOEs focuses primarily on heterosexual White students. Thus, it is important to explore how the intersection of multiple identities such as race, gender, and sexual orientation influence the endorsement of specific AOEs. Purpose: This paper examines AOEs among Black first-year college students, with specific attention to the influence of gender and sexual orientation...

Background: Health promotion/education strive to promote healthful conditions that improve quality of life1 based on the perceptions of those whose lives are affected.2-4 Though health promotion/education might have instrumental value in reducing risks for premature morbidity and mortality, their ultimate value lies in contributions to quality of life.1 Life satisfaction (LS) has been defined as an individual's assessment of their quality of life based upon personal criteria5,6 and linked to adolescent health risk behaviors7,8 and developmental assets...

Background: The Internet is an important tool for empowering patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to learn about and self-manage their condition. Purpose: To understand which aspects of the online experience facilitates or hinders the perceived ability of patients with COPD to achieve their information and self-management goals. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with medically underserved patients with COPD ( N = 25) who access the Internet for health...

Background: Breast cancer is an important public health issue among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women. However, there are very few published studies describing the evaluation of breast health promotion programs among AI/AN women. Purpose: To describe the formative evaluation of a multi-component intervention to promote mammography screening in an AI community in rural Oklahoma. Methods: A comprehensive process evaluation plan with emphasis on context, reach, dose received, dose delivered, and fidelity was developed...

Background: Older adults are at risk for experiencing alcohol and medication interactions (AMI) given concomitant alcohol and medication use. However, there have been limited efforts to develop and evaluate AMI prevention interventions. Purpose: The current study examined sustained intervention effects on older adults' attitudes, awareness, and intentions regarding AMI. Methods: A sample of N = 134 older adults completed assessments before and after exposure to AMI risk educational materials (Times 1 and 2)...

Background: Emergency contraception (EC) is a highly effective form of birth control that may lower rates of unintended pregnancy among young women. But efforts to disseminate EC to women are hampered by misinformation and inadequate information. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the sources from which young women learn about EC (including health care providers, friends/interpersonal sources, media sources, or no information sources), and to examine source credibility with the accuracy of EC knowledge and intentions to use EC...

Background: Effective online communication about the environmental risk factors of breast cancer is essential because of the multitude of environmental exposures and debate regarding the conclusiveness of scientific evidence. Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the content, readability, and cultural sensitivity of online resources focused on the environmental risks factors of breast cancer. Methods: A purposive sample of webpages focused on environmental risk factors of breast cancer was obtained through a Google search using 17 search terms...

Background: Social norm interventions have been implemented in schools to address concerns of alcohol use among high school students; however, research in this area has not incorporated measures of variability that may better reflect the complexity of social influences. Purpose: To examine the association between perceived alcohol norms, the student and school-level variability of those norms, and alcohol use behaviors among high school students. Methods: A sample of 25,824 students from 58 high schools completed an online self-report survey...

Background: College students actively seek online health information and use Instagram, an image- and video-based social networking website, to build social networks grounded in trust and behavioral norms (social capital), which have the potential to prevent chronic disease. Purpose: This study aimed to: (1) examine how intensity of Instagram use moderates the relationship between eHealth Literacy and online social capital in college students, and (2) discuss how Instagram can be used as a social awareness platform for chronic disease prevention among college students...