Middle School Student Attitudes About School Drinking Fountains and Water Intake

ObjectiveTo describe middle school student attitudes about school drinking fountains, investigate whether such attitudes are associated with intentions to drink water at school, and determine how intentions relate to overall water intake.MethodsStudents (n = 3211) in 9 California middle schools completed surveys between 2009 and 2011. We used multivariate linear regression, adjusting for school sociodemographic characteristics, to examine how attitudes about fountains (5-point scale; higher scores indicating more positive attitudes) were associated with intentions to drink water at school and how intentions to drink water at school were related to overall water intake.ResultsMean age of students was 12.3 (SD = 0.7) years; 75% were Latino, 89% low income, and 39% foreign born. Fifty-two percent reported lower than recommended overall water intake (<3 glasses/day), and 30% reported that they were unlikely or extremely unlikely to drink water at school. Fifty-nine percent reported that school fountains were unclean, 48% that fountain water does not taste good, 33% that fountains could make them sick, 31% that it was not okay to drink from fountains, and 24% that fountain water is contaminated. In adjusted analyses, attitudes about school drinking fountains were related to intentions to drink water at school (β = 0.41; P < .001); intentions to drink water at school were also associated with overall water intake (β = 0.20; P < .001).ConclusionsStudents have negative attitudes about school fountains. To increase overall water intake, it may be important to promote and improve drinking water sources not only at school but also at home and in other community environments.     

中学生父母养育方式与心理健康状况

目的探讨中学生的心理健康状况及心理问题与父母养育方式关系。方法使用症状自评量表(SCL-90)、父母养育方式评价量表(EMBU)、基本资料问卷,采取现况研究整群抽样方法,在南宁市7所中学中采用问卷调查方式调查学生2700名。结果SCL-90筛选出有心理问题学生379例,占14.5%。经相关分析表明,SCL-90总分及各项因子分与EMBU的父母亲严厉惩罚、过分干涉、偏爱、过度保护、拒绝否认等项呈明显正相关;SCL-90总分数及各项因子分与父母亲温暖理解项呈明显负相关。结论中学生的心理异常与父母养育方式有密切关系,不良的父母养育方式是中学生心理问题发展的一个危险因素。实用儿科临床杂志,2006,21(17):1179-1180     

Family Composition and Youth Health Risk Behaviors: the Role of Patental Relation and the School Context

Children not residing with both parents have been shown to be more at risk of negative developmental outcomes than children residing in two-parent families. Few studies have explored how other central contexts may interact with family characteristics to hinder or facilitate youth adjustment. This study examines how aspects of family structure and family processes are associated with youth health risk behaviors and interact with the structural characteristics of schools. The analyses are based on data from the Stockholm School Survey and consist of 5 002 ninth-grade students distributed over 92 schools in the Stockholm area in 2010. School information has been gathered from the Swedish National Agency for Education. Random intercept and fully random models have been used. Results show that adolescents not living with both their parents are more involved in health risk behaviors than adolescents that do. Poor parent–child relations accounts for more of the disadvantage associated with non-traditional family structures than differences in socioeconomic background. Results further suggest that health risk behaviors are more prevalent in more advantaged school settings, net the effect of individual background characteristics. Moreover, advantage school settings are found to accentuate the detrimental effects of poor parent–child relations on health risk behaviors. In conclusion, the study suggests that the effect of family type and family processes on youth behavior is susceptible to contextual effects of the school environment and that more advantage school settings have detrimental direct and indirect effects on youth health risk behaviors.     

Brief Report: Language Ability and School Functioning of Youth Perinatally Infected With HIV

IntroductionThe purpose of this article is to describe the language ability and school functioning of early adolescents with perinatal HIV/AIDS.MethodParticipants included 43 youths, 9-15 years, and their primary caregivers. Youths completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and the Reading Subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT3) and were interviewed regarding their future educational aspirations and parental supervision and involvement with homework. Caregivers were interviewed regarding the child's school achievement, parental supervision and monitoring, and educational aspirations for their child.ResultsFifty-four percent of youths scored below average (<25th percentile) on the PPVT, and 29% scored below the 10th percentile; 40% scored below average (<25th percentile) on the WRAT3, and 24% scored below the 10th percentile. Scores were associated with parental monitoring and educational aspirations.DiscussionYouths performed poorly on tests of verbal and reading ability, although their scores were not dissimilar to those of other samples of inner-city youths. Future research should attempt to isolate the impact of HIV disease on intellectual and school functioning of HIV+ youths.     

School Absenteeism Among Middle School Students With High Exposure to Violence

ObjectiveChronic school absenteeism is linked to failure to graduate high school and poor health in adulthood. Contextual factors associated with absenteeism may be under-recognized in school and clinical settings. We examined the prevalence of self-reported absenteeism and violence exposure and their association among middle school students with identified risk of trauma.MethodsWe analyzed baseline data from a dating violence prevention program. Participants completed surveys identifying lifetime exposure to 10 types of violence and past 30-day absence. Violence exposure and absenteeism were summarized and compared across demographic groups. Generalized linear models examined associations between 1) any history of violence exposure, 2) each type of violence exposure, and 3) summed exposures to different types of violence, and frequent absenteeism (≥2 absences in past 30 days).ResultsOf all participants (overall n = 499), 45.5% reported frequent absenteeism and 71.5% reported violence exposure. Any self-reported violence exposure was associated with absenteeism (aRR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.06–1.92). However, no specific type of violence exposure predicted absenteeism. Comparing summed exposures to different types of violence to no violence exposure, exposure to 1 type of violence was associated with absenteeism (aRR = 1.59, 95%CI: 1.15–2.20), with no evidence of stronger associations with greater exposure (2–3 types: aRR = 1.37, 95%CI: 1.00–1.88; ≥4 types: aRR = 1.31, 95%CI: 0.98–1.74).ConclusionsYouth in this sample reported both high rates of violence exposure and absenteeism. Prior violence exposure was associated with absenteeism. Resources and contextual support for youth exposed to family or community violence may play a role in school attendance, emphasizing need for trauma-sensitive approaches to absenteeism.     

Talking About Youth Health: An Example of Engaging Youth to Improve Child and Youth Health Indicators in British Columbia,Canada

A project initially carried out in 2010 aimed to include youth as well as international child health and data experts in the process of establishing core indicators of child and youth health in the province of British Columbia, Canada. In 2015, trend data and some newly available measures were reviewed by youth and subject matter experts to consider progress against the core indicators established in 2010. The knowledge of experts in child health and development, combined with the lived experience and knowledge of youth, led to the identification of key areas to focus future health promotion efforts. Youth were also able to confirm qualitatively some of the positive quantitative trends seen in the data and to provide important context to the findings from their lived experience. Participants also raised some important questions about survey items used to capture youth’s experiences and the need moving forward to ensure that the development of such items include youth as early in the process as possible to ensure that items are not unnecessarily emotionally distressing and that they are capturing what researchers assume they are.     

Family, School and Friends: Correlates of Canadian Youth Outcomes

This paper empirically examines the joint correlates of academic performance and criminal behaviour of Canadian 12- to 15-year old boys and girls. Previous researchers have studied various child or youth outcomes, for example, physical health, academic performance, behaviourial outcomes, and labour market outcomes in young adulthood. However, the literature on correlates of juvenile criminal behaviour using Canadian data is very thin. This paper aims to fill in this gap. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), I consider four categories of potential correlates: personal and family characteristics, neighbourhood characteristics, school environment, and public policies. Some main findings are: (1) School quality measured by “in-class cooperation through group activities” is linked to better academic performance and less crime for boys and girls, while conventional school quality measures, such as class size or teacher’s education level, are not significant; (2) Observable neighbourhood characteristics, such as median income, racial heterogeneity and age composition, do not seem to matter; (3) There is a strong “peer” group effect for both academic performance and criminal activities; and (4) Consistent with existing literature, family background is very important for Canadian youth outcomes. The contribution of this paper is three-fold. First, to the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that considers the relationship between school environment and Canadian youth outcomes using the NLSCY. Second, this study further adds to existing literature by including an extensive list of other explanatory variables in addition to school environment, thus mitigating potential omitted variable bias. Finally, considering the joint correlates of academic performance and participation in crime using multivariate probit regression analysis also provides a new perspective.     

Talking About Childhood Obesity: A Survey of What Parents Want

ObjectiveDetermine parent preferences when discussing their child's weight with regard to weight-based terms, terms that are the most motivating, preferred setting, and whether or not awareness of their child's weight status impact these preferences.MethodsParents of children ages 3 to 17 years (N = 349) presenting for health supervision visits completed a survey to assess the degree of offensiveness and motivation for change of commonly used weight-based terminology, as well as the preferred setting for discussion of weight. Parents were asked to assess their child's weight status using recommended terminology (“obese,” “overweight,” “healthy weight,” “underweight”), and their responses were compared to the children's objective body mass index (BMI) percentile.ResultsThe children had a median age of 10.3 years; 47.3% were female, 15.8% had overweight (85th–94th percentile BMI), and 11.5% had obesity (≥95th percentile BMI). Of children with overweight/obesity, 84.2% of parents underestimated their child's weight status. The least offensive terms were “at-risk weight,” “BMI is high,” “BMI is above 95%,” and “unhealthy weight.” The more offensive terms (P < .001) were “overweight” and “obese.” The parent's perception of their child's weight did not affect offensiveness ratings. “Obese” was the strongest motivator for change (P < .001), and “unhealthy weight” was next. Well visits were preferred for discussing weight (P < .001). Most parents preferred to have the child remain in the room (P < .001), especially if the child was older (P < .001).ConclusionsProviders should use preferred terms when discussing excess weight regardless of a parent's perception of their child's status and should also consider the motivational value of the term. “Unhealthy weight” was both preferred and motivating, but “obese” was the most motivating.     

Dietary,Physical Activity,and Sedentary Behaviors Associated With Percent Body Fat in Rural Hispanic Youth

IntroductionThe objective of the present study was to assess dietary, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors associated with percent body fat in rural Hispanic youth.MethodA total of 189 Hispanic children and adolescents ages 8 to 19 years completed the School Physical Activity and Nutrition questionnaire. Body composition (percent body fat) was determined by anthropometric skinfold methods. Logistic regression analysis was performed with percent body fat as the primary outcome dichotomized into excess body fat/normal body fat.ResultsGender was significantly associated with percent body fat in that girls were more likely to be in the excess percent body fat group. A significant interaction effect was noted between gender and sugar-sweetened beverages in that the effect of consuming sugar-sweetened drinks on excess adiposity was 6.28 times greater for boys than for girls.DiscussionOur data suggest that being a girl and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages for boys may be risk factors for excess adiposity in rural Hispanic youth. Development of tailored, culturally sensitive interventions for this population may benefit from targeting these areas.     

学龄期儿童莫拉菌败血症2例

例1,男,9岁,以发热2个月余入院,体温最高39.8℃,为弛张热,热前无寒战,无关节痛,无咳嗽、呕吐、腹泻及泌尿系症状,精神食欲可。无结核接触史,无外地居住史及特殊嗜好。查体:体温39.2℃,发育正常,营养中等。无皮疹,浅表淋巴结不大。咽部轻度充血,扁桃体不大。肺部、心脏、腹部、神经系统未见异常。血WBC(4.5~5.6)×109/L,分类正常,Hb、PLT正常。尿、便常规、肝肾功能、抗结核抗体、PPD试验、类风湿因子、ASO、肥达、外斐反应均阴性。血沉23 mm/1 h,腹部B超、头颅CT、胸片未见异常。骨穿示正常骨髓像,2次血细菌培养莫拉菌生长(外院血培…