Health Promoting Schools

'Swatantra-Clinic' at NIMHANS, India, provides mental healthcare to vulnerable children. This study describes the clinical profile, vulnerability and protective factors of 77 adolescents in conflict with the law (CICL). 90.9 % (n=70) reported Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), 58.4 % (n=45) had school-related difficulties, 68.9 % (n=53) reported child labour experiences, 64.9 % (n=50) had deviant peer associations, and 40 % (n=31) experimented with substance use. Despite vulnerabilities, 72...

Within the field of research on the promotion of teachers' social and emotional competence, the present paper illustrates preliminary evidence of the efficacy of a new training program named "ME4YOU" aimed at supporting teachers' self-reflexive competences to deal with the emotional and relational dimensions of teaching, with constant and continuous attention towards underlining the close connection between the way teachers perform as professionals at work and the way they function as individuals in their personal life...

Clusters of youth suicide and death are tragic for communities and present long-term consequences for the surviving youths. Despite an awareness of community-based patterns in youth suicide, our understanding of the social and community factors behind these events remains poor. While links between poverty and suicide have been well documented, wealthy communities are rarely targeted in suicide research. In response to this gap, we conducted ethnographic research in a wealthy U.S. town that, over a recent 10-year period, witnessed at least four youth suicides and seven more youth accidental deaths...

Childhood is a crucial stage of human development in which the lifestyles children adopt can have a significant impact on their well-being throughout their lives. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the healthy habits and Body Mass Index (BMI) of students from a primary school that participated in a program to promote physical activity and healthy eating one year earlier with other students from two schools that had not participated in this type of program. We analyzed a sample of 287 Spanish students, aged between 8 and 12 years...

AIMS: The aim was to examine how loneliness was associated with bullying victimization at school and online. METHODS: We used data from the Danish arm of the international Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study from 2022. The study population was a nationally representative sample of 11-15-year-olds who completed the internationally standardized HBSC questionnaire at school, n = 5382. Multilevel logistic regression was applied to study the associations between bullying victimization and loneliness...

The objective of this research was to examine a 12-week exercise program and its impact on the motor proficiency and cognitive abilities of preschool children with overweight and normal weight. The study involved a total of 71 participants who were preschool children enrolled in a longitudinal study. Body mass index (BMI) was determined by measuring body height and weight, and the nutritional status of the children was assessed using the World Health Organization's (WHO) criteria. Motor proficiency encompasses both motor abilities and motor skills, and the assessment of motor abilities was conducted using subtests from the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2)...

In Australia, dental caries are observed in almost half of children starting school. Oral health promotion programs are being implemented in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings to promote oral health. This study examined children's perceptions of one such program, the Bright Smiles Bright Futures (BSBF) program in ECEC settings in New South Wales, Australia. Data were collected using focus group discussions from 15 children aged 3-5 years, transcribed verbatim, and analysed through inductive thematic analysis...

BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety co-occur frequently and there is heterogeneity in the co-occurrence of such symptoms; however, few previous studies investigated the heterogeneity based on person-centered perspectives in adolescents. The primary aim of our study was to explore it using latent profile analysis (LPA), a person-centered statistical approach. METHOD: The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used to examine depression and anxiety symptoms in 7422 Chinese adolescents from 23 primary and secondary schools...

OBJECTIVES: There is little global evidence about how physicians become abortion clinicians or advocates. We describe the ideological trajectories of self-identified pro-choice female Mexican doctors and the factors that made them become pro-choice. STUDY DESIGN: In this qualitative study we conducted semi-structured interviews with members of the Mexican Network of Female Pro-choice Physicians (Red de Médicas por el Derecho a Decidir - México). Participants came from 8 diverse states in Mexico...

Although universities in the US commonly implement sexual consent education programs for students that focus on understanding how to communicate sexual consent, it remains unclear to what extent sexual consent education is taking place in grades K-12. The goal of this study was to assess K-12 health education standards recommendations for sexual consent education. We conducted a content analysis of health education standards from 43 states in the US to evaluate the guidelines provided to health educators across different grade levels...

This study aimed to emphasize the importance of physical education in maintaining sufficient physical activity by examining the average BMI of fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students in Korea over multiple years. This study investigated changes in the average BMI of fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students in Korea. It provided foundational data to suggest the role of physical education in student health and set future directions. The 2019-2021 Physical Activity Promotion System (PAPS) of the Korean Ministry of Education was used...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on people of all ages, especially children. This is a cross-sectional study in Thailand to explore the emotional and behavioral problems of school-aged children and associated factors during the lockdown. An online survey was conducted with 942 parents of school-age children. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores showed that total difficulties and all subscale difficulties (hyperactivity, conduct problems, peer problems, and emotional problems) were increased, whereas prosocial behaviors were decreased in the pandemic period...

BACKGROUND: High consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) is a global health concern. Additionally, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is disproportionately high among adolescents and adults in rural Appalachia. The primary study objective is to determine the intervention effects of Kids SIPsmartER on students' SSB consumption. Secondary objectives focus on caregivers' SSB consumption and secondary student and caregiver outcomes [e.g, body mass index (BMI), quality of life (QOL)]...

OBJECTIVE: There is limited evidence for the effectiveness of mental health promotion interventions in low- and middle-income settings, especially for longer-term benefits. This study evaluates the 5-month follow-up outcomes of a movement-based mental health promotion intervention (TeamUp) for refugee children in Northern Uganda (West Nile) and further investigates what explains longer-term benefits. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in four primary schools, randomly allocated to an experimental or a control condition...

BACKGROUND: Three tribal communities in the Southwestern United States have a long-standing partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health (JHCIH). OBJECTIVES: In response to community concerns about obesity, three tribal communities and Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health partnered to develop culturally relevant plans for a new program. METHODS: Using a "community visioning" process, a community advisory board (CAB) from each community identified opportunities, challenges, goals, and visions for their communities...

BACKGROUND: Schools are rich sites for collaborations between health and educational sectors. OBJECTIVES: To identify lessons learned from formation of a community-academic partnership and application of community-based participatory research (CBPR) to develop a model that integrates community health workers into schools. METHODS: Individuals from an academic medical center, a large public school district, and a community-based research institute applied CBPR principles to reimagine schools as a place for improving the health of children...

Microorganisms are ubiquitous in nature and are central to human, animal, environmental, and planetary health. They play a particularly important role in the food chain and the production of high-quality, safe, and health-promoting foods, especially fermented foods. This important role is not always apparent to members of the public. Here, we describe Kefir4All, a citizen science project designed to provide the general public with an opportunity to expand their awareness, knowledge, and practical skills relating to microbiology, introduced through the medium of producing fermented food, i...

OBJECTIVE: Sociodemographic differences in physical activity (PA) levels during the transition from childhood to adolescence, particularly in Central Asian countries, is lacking. In this study, we examine individual, family and environmental sociodemographic variables associated with PA among children and young adolescents in Kazakhstan. STUDY DESIGN: Secondary data analyses of two nationally representative cross-sectional studies administered by parents of children (aged 7-9 y) and by self-report surveys (adolescents aged, 11-15 y) ...

OBJECTIVE: Sleep problems and their detrimental effects on adolescents' physical and mental health have received substantial attention. Prior studies have focused mainly on the direct association between sleep and mental health; however, little is known about the underlying mediating mechanism. To address this gap, the present study constructed a chain mediation model to examine the association between sleep deficiency and mental health status in adolescents, by introducing two mediating variables-physical health perception and school adjustment...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess medical students' quality of sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness in different graduation cycles. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out at a private university in Maceió, Brazil, from August 2021 to March 2022. The sample was composed of medical students aged 18 years and above from years 1-2 (basic cycle), 3-4 (clinical cycle), and 5-6 (internship) of Medical School who were invited to answer two validated questionnaires: the Pittsburgh Sleeping Quality Index and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale...