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Sexuality education, part of the comprehensive school health education component of a Coordinated School Health Program, interests many health educators as well as special education teachers. In this study, Florida special educators reported their beliefs about teaching sexuality education to educable mentally disabled students, the range of sexuality topics they teach, and their professional preparation in sexuality education. Respondents (n = 494) completed a mailed instrument that included the 36 sexuality content areas identified by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Respondents believed strongly that many of the sexuality topics and content areas should be taught to educable mentally disabled students. However, most reported delivering only a modest amount of sexuality education, and they rated their professional preparation as inadequate. Regression analyses documented that respondents' belie[s predicted the topics they actually taught within 5 of the 6 key concepts. This study supports collaboration between health educators' and special education teachers to adapt existing sexuality curricula for students with special needs, improve professional preparation of special education teachers to teach sexuality education, and to more effectively implement comprehensive school health education through the Coordinated School Health Program model to special education students., Sexuality, an essential aspect of one's personality and sense of self, offers a gateway to intimacy that includes feelings of comfort, security, support, love, and affection. For people with mental [...]

The high rate of obesity, ownership of smartphones, and online search for nutrition and dieting information among African American women (AAW) provide a unique opportunity to develop cost-effective, accessible, and acceptable mHealth weight management programs for them. Furthermore, they should participate in the development and evaluation of these programs. To explore ideal components of a culturally relevant mHealth weight management program for AAW and to examine how these components may vary by age group. Twelve focus group triads were conducted with AAW in north central Florida. The framework method was used to manage, organize, synthesize, and analyze data themes by age groups: 18 to 29 (young), 30 to 50 (middle age), and 51+ (older). Thirty-six smartphone owners who expressed a desire to lose weight were recruited through several community partnerships. Based on body mass index (BMI), young women were classified as overweight (BMI 26.23 ± 6.7), middle-aged women as obese (BMI30.72 ± 8.31), and older women as obese (BMI 31.03 ± 5.67). Most searched online for dieting information within the past 12 months. Five overarching themes for designing mHealth weight management programs were identified: (1) holistic program that goes beyond dieting; (2) social media integration for support and sense of community; (3) self-monitoring app; (4) two-way text messaging; and (5) programs of varying lengths and meaningful incentives. AAW were receptive to mHealth weight management programs, which may be appealing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Holistic programs of 4 to 6 weeks that addressed stress eating, had a social media component, and included a few educational texts per week may be appealing to AAW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's school-aged children face a multitude of health issues that affect their well-being and academic performance. Partnerships have developed between health and education agencies to help American children succeed at math and science and to prepare them to make healthful, lifelong decisions. Curriculum integration provides a framework for children to apply knowledge from several disciplines and to use this knowledge to solve real-life problems at work and at play. Goals for instruction focus on the needs not only of the individual but also of society. Nutrition science and mathematics form a natural partnership. Nutrition science incorporates numerous mathematical concepts and procedures such as sorting, classifying, statistics, probability, estimation, and rates and proportion. In preparation for participation in a global and technological society that will require citizens to be quantitative thinkers, educators must endeavor to assist all children in becoming healthy adults who are mathematically literate and competent. (J Sch Health. 1998;68(1):3-6), As we move toward the 21st century, public health and public education need to form a stronger partnership to address the health and education needs of the nation's children. The [...]

Focus group interviews were used to develop a nutrition education video and a teacher's guide for use in Florida high schools. Authors conducted a pilot and four focus group interviews with ninth grade students in five geographically distinct regions of Florida. Most students agreed that a video with scenarios or success stories would work well. Teens expressed interest in 10 topics: eating disorders; consequences of unhealthy eating; preparing quick, healthy meals; what constitutes a balanced diet; nutrition and fitness; weight control; food and the environment; the food guide pyramid; nutrition facts and fallacies; and food labels. Students suggested no more than three or four topics should be covered in the video, and the video cast should consist mainly of teen-agers with different body sizes, who were average, attractive, and from different ethnic backgrounds. Music was recommended only for transitions between scenes, as background, or during the credits. (J Sch Health. 1997;67(9):376-379), Healthy food habits established early in life persist into adulthood and can help prevent and delay chronic diseases.[1-3] According to the findings of the National Adolescent Student Health Survey,[4] most [...]

When immigrant children and adolescents leave their country of origin to live in the United States, they leave behind a familiar language, culture, community, and social system. They also experience a variety of emotional and cognitive adjustments to the realities of life in the United States. Many of these conflicts and adjustments place immigrant children at increased risk for psychosocial problems, school failure, drug use, and other risk-taking behavior. Early identification of immigrant children at risk for these problems can help school personnel and health care providers plan culturally appropriate and effective interventions. This article discusses the potential psychosocial problems encountered by immigrant children in adjusting to a new home, school, and society, and offers suggestions for action. (J Sch Health. 1997;67(3):98-102), According to the 1994 Current Population Survey, some 22.6 million foreign-born persons reside legally in the United States, representing 8.6% of the population.[1] The number of illegal immigrants is unknown. [...]

Focus groups were used to examine adolescents' participation in school nutrition programs, their opinions about the meals served in these programs, and their suggestions for improving the meals. A pilot and four focus group interviews were conducted with ninth grade students in five geographically distinct regions of Florida. Male students and those from rural areas were more likely to participate in school meal programs than were females and those from suburban and urban areas. Students expressed intense dislike and distrust of school meals. School meals were criticized for taste, appearance, small serving sizes, and cost. Students overwhelmingly favored commercial food vendors serving lunch at school. Suggestions for improving school meals included improving the taste and appearance of food, offering a wider variety of foods, serving more fresh fruit and vegetables, lowering the price, increasing the serving sizes, teaching food service workers how to cook, and offering more condiments. (J Sch Health. 1996;66(4):128-131), The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) contribute significantly to the diets of American children. According to the 1992 School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (SNDAS), [...]

As health educators, school nurses, school administrators, and other professionals move upward implementing the goals of a Comprehensive School Health Program, they should be aware of and concerned with the [...]

Lesson Objectives 1) To identify stereotypes and perceptions of different groups of alcoholics. 2) To increase cultural awareness and competence among students. Assessment Criteria Individuals will be able to outline [...]

A program for a classroom activity which incorporates nutrition into a session teaching about elementary mathematics is presented. Teachers ask their students to bring to class a fruit or a vegetable and discuss each item's nutritional value. They will then divide the class into groups of three to four children. Each child will be given a lunch bag containing paper cutouts of a fruit and a vegetable, with each cutout having a numeral representing the number of servings which have already been eaten for the day. Each child will ask the class to identify the fruit or vegetable by giving hints on its nutritional value or the number of servings needed to meet daily nutritional requirements., Topic Integrating nutrition into mathematics education Lesson Objective 1. Define a fruit. 2. Define a vegetable. 3. Classify and sort foods into fruit and vegetable categories. 4. Discuss the nutrient [...]