BACKGROUND Overweight prevalence among Guatemalan girls is higher in public than in private schools. Little is known about adolescent girls' perceptions of the right ways to achieve a healthy weight. This study examines public and private school adolescent girls' perceptions of a "healthy weight," and barriers and facilitators to achieving it. METHODS We conducted 4 focus groups in public and...

OBJECTIVE To examine how "travel by walking" before and after school contributes to total physical activity of adolescent girls. DESIGN Cross-sectional sample. SETTING Thirty-six middle schools from Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, Louisiana, California, and South Carolina participating in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG). PARTICIPANTS Seventeen hundred twenty-one sixth-grad...

People's fear and anxiety about doing math--over and above actual math ability--can be an impediment to their math achievement. We show that when the math-anxious individuals are female elementary school teachers, their math anxiety carries negative consequences for the math achievement of their female students. Early elementary school teachers in the United States are almost exclusively female...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether subjective social standing in school predicts a change in body mass index (BMI) in adolescent girls during a 2-year period. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Self-report questionnaires from a community-based population of adolescent girls living across the United States from 1999 to 2001. PARTICIPANTS Of 5723 girls aged 12 to 18 years participating in...

During 2013-2015, 3.9% of boys and 4.3% of girls missed >10 school days in the past 12 months because of illness or injury. Among children aged 15-17 years, girls were more likely than boys to miss >10 school days (6.8% compared with 3.9%). Among girls, those aged 15-17 years were more likely than girls aged 5-10 years and girls aged 11-14 years to miss >10 school days (6.8% compared with 3.2% ...

BACKGROUND Promoting daily routine activities, such as active commuting to school, may have important health implications for young people. PURPOSE The aim of the study was to examine the secular trend of active commuting to school in Spanish adolescents over a 6-year period (2001-2002 to 2006-2007). We also examined several factors that might explain this trend. METHODS Data comes from two...

OBJECTIVE To investigate associations between the number of physical activity facilities within walking distance of school and physical activity behavior in 12th grade girls during after-school hours. METHODS Girls (N=1394) from 22 schools completed a self-report to determine physical activity after 3:00 p.m. The number of physical activity facilities within a 0.75-mile buffer of the school w...

OBJECTIVE Little is known about the types of physical activity (PA) in which adolescent girls participate. Understanding this, along with examining specific psychosocial correlates of PA, may help guide the development of effective interventions to prevent the decline in PA in female youth. METHODS 2791 sixth grade girls participating in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls from six geo...

OBJECTIVE To compare two groups of school age girls from different social strata were compared in terms of their perception and knowledge about breastfeeding. METHODS A structured questionnaire was applied to all 346 4th to 8th grade girls attending two schools, a private one, whose students belonged to the upper class (School A), and a public one, whose students belonged to the lower class (...

BACKGROUND Many adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries lack appropriate facilities and support in school to manage menstruation. Little research has been conducted on how menstruation affects school absence. This study examines the association of menstrual hygiene management knowledge, facilities and practice with absence from school during menstruation among Bangladeshi sch...