OBJECTIVE To determine the size of obesity differences associated with educational level in the adult population in Spain. DESIGN Three cross sectional studies representative of the adult population in Spain were carried out in 1987, 1995, and 1997. SETTING The general population in Spain. PARTICIPANTS 11 461 men and 10 219 women aged 25 to 64 years. MAIN RESULTS For both men and women ...

Parental knowledge of their students' backpack weight and contents was assessed by identifying 188 students who carried backpacks weighing at least 10% of their body weights through a survey of 745 students in three elementary schools. Most parents (96%) had never checked their child's backpack weight; 34% had never checked the backpack contents.

OBJECTIVES We examined racial and ethnic disparities in the total potential burden of asthma in low-income, racially/ethnically heterogeneous Chicago schools. METHODS We used the Brief Pediatric Asthma Screen Plus (BPAS+) and the Spanish BPAS+, validated, caregiver-completed respiratory questionnaires, to identify asthma and possible asthma among students in 14 racially/ethnically diverse pub...

Adequate sleep is essential for child learning. However, school systems may inadvertently be promoting sleep deprivation through early school start times. The current study examines the potential implications of early school start times for standardized test scores in public elementary schools in Kentucky. Associations between early school start time and poorer school performance were observed ...

The association between physical fitness and blood pressure was studied in 2061 children selected from all fourth graders in 44 elementary schools in the New York City area. Their blood pressure and physical fitness were measured on two consecutive examinations 1 year apart. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were highest in children with poor physical fitness. The change in physical fitness...

Effects of the life skills programme 'Eigenständig werden' (Becoming independent) on life skills and on identified antecedents of adolescent health risk behaviour, childhood internalizing and externalizing behaviour were tested in an elementary school setting. A quasi-experimental controlled trial with five repeated measures was conducted. Participants were 919 students from 50 elementary schoo...

Although prior research has documented differences in the distribution of teacher characteristics across schools serving different student populations, few studies have examined the extent to which teacher sorting occurs within schools. This study uses data from one large urban school district and compares the class assignments of teachers who teach in the same grade and in the same school in a...

OBJECTIVE To maximize active parent consent form return rates for third-grade minority, urban students enrolled in predominantly low-income elementary schools in Chicago, Ill. METHODS Research staff used a class incentive and class visits to retrieve consent forms from students. RESULTS Of the 811 third-grade students, 98% returned a form and 79% (n = 627) of those students' parents provide...

Alcohol consumption is considered a global problem, principally affecting adolescents. In this context, the aims of this study were to identify the pedagogical strategies developed by elementary school teachers in the approach to alcohol with adolescents; To analyze the attitudes, beliefs, values and practices of the elementary school teachers in relation to alcohol; To discuss the repercussion...

In the paper we present the findings of the empirical research study whose purpose was to monitor creativity abilities of seventh grade pupils in Slovenian elementary schools. More concretely, we monitored the levels of artistic-creative and artistic-formative development. The research sample consisted of 247 seventh graders in various elementary schools. We examined creativity abilities from t...