Relations between sociocultural pressures and weight control behavior among early adolescent boys

Guided by the biopsychosocial model, we examined (a) the prevalence of weight control behaviors (WCBs; i.e., trying to stay the same weight, lose weight, gain weight, or do nothing about weight) among early adolescent boys by race/ethnicity and grade level, and (b) how the boys’ perceptions of sociocultural pressures (from parents, peers, and media) to lose weight, gain weight, exercise, and diet predicted their WCBs while accounting for body composition and grade level. Early adolescent boys ( n = 508) in middle schools completed survey measures of WCB and sociocultural pressures and objective assessment of body mass index as body composition. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed that sixth graders were more likely than seventh and eighth graders to be trying to lose weight. Moreover, greater pressure to gain weight and lower pressure to exercise predicted a greater likelihood of trying to gain weight. The significant roles of grade levels and different sociocultural pressures in predicting WCBs suggest that health professionals and school staff should consider these factors when intervening with early adolescent boys.     

Quality Management Procedures Influence the Food Safety Practices at Childcare Centers

Childcare in the United States (US) has become a necessary part of life for most working parents with the increased use of center-based childcare over the past three decades. Approximately 13 million preschoolers attend some form of childcare. Literature indicates the main predictors of quality childcare programs are adequate experience and specialized training of childcare staff. A growing concern among researchers, however, is the limited training among childcare professionals in the area of food safety. Children have minimal control of food safety risks because other people prepare their meals. A questionnaire was developed and mailed to childcare center directors in Texas and Iowa to identify the demographic, food safety and other practices that influence the training and decisions made by childcare center directors. Results indicate the need of continual management and food safety training for both directors and staff in order to provide a safe environment for young children.     

Drawing in Preschools: A Didactic Experience

To be understood, visually, often depends on how skilled one is in catching form and translating it into a two‐dimensional surface. This is a challenge we are confronted with early in life. Children's learning strategies in drawing are not always understood or encouraged. This article presents a socio‐cultural analysis from Norway of a pedagogical practice that attempts to shed light on the question, How does the preschool teacher support 3–5 year old children when they are drawing something they see, and how do children in this age group respond to this support?     

GENI的设计原则(一)分布式需求定义GENI的重心

2006年8月,GEN(I网络创新的全球化环境)公布其项目的设计原则。来自普林斯顿大学、麻省理工大学、华盛顿大学等学校的十二位专家编写了这份报告。该报告阐述了GENI的研究范围、用户的需求、需求的内在压力以及工程设计的原则。报告指出了GENI的价值主张,广泛的部署、多样化可扩展的网络技术集合、对真实用户流量的支持仍是GENI关注的原则和方向。本刊将分两期连载这一报告,从“分布式需求定义GENI的重心”、“解决分布式需求的内在冲突”等两部分,将这一报告与大家共享。     

Children as citizens: literacies for social participation

The last decade has seen, in the policy arena, a broad global push for children to be treated as active participants in society rather than as the passive recipients of adult decisions and interventions. The topic of literacy learning and teaching has, however, been absent from much of the policy and literature on children's social participation. This paper is an exploratory foray into possible connections between literacy and citizenship from the perspective of young children and those responsible for their education. Drawing from both sociocultural and semiotic perspectives on literacy, this analysis crosses between institutional texts, ethnographic accounts and children's own representations of their places in the world. A hierarchical model of literacy development, which emphasises the teaching of basic decoding skills in the early years, is associated with a view of young children as future citizens rather than as active social participants. Recognising children's agency, and supporting their meaningful participation, requires literacies of social participation.     

Reformed undergraduate instruction and its subsequent impact on secondary school teaching practice and student achievement

The Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT) Program is one of several reform efforts supported by the National Science Foundation. The primary ACEPT reform mechanism has been month‐long summer workshops in which university and community college science and mathematics faculty learn about instructional reforms and then attempt to apply them in their courses. Previous ACEPT evaluation efforts suggest that, when implemented, the reforms boost undergraduate student achievement. The initial purpose of the present study was to discover whether enrollment of preservice teachers in one or more of these reformed undergraduate courses is linked to the way they teach after they graduate and become in‐service teachers. Assuming that a link is found, a second purpose was to discover whether the presumed positive effect is in turn linked to their students' achievement. In short, the answer appears to be yes, at least among the biology teachers and students surveyed. Compared with controls, the biology teachers who had enrolled in one or more ACEPT reformed course during their teacher preparation program demonstrated significantly higher scores on the measure of reformed instruction and their students demonstrated significantly higher achievement in terms of scientific reasoning, nature of science, and biology concepts. These results support the hypothesis that teachers teach as they have been taught. Furthermore, it appears that instructional reform in teacher preparation programs including both methods and major's courses can improve secondary school student achievement. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 939–957, 2003     

Managing Risk and Experiencing Danger: tensions between government AIDS education policy and young women's sexuality

Much of the early panic relating to AIDS has focused on non‐heterosexual sexualities and the identification of high risk groups. It can be argued that fear of the spread of HIV and AIDS into the heterosexual population was the spur for the development of government policy in this area. The protection of the population in general depends on changes in high risk sexual practices, and the part played in these changes by young women has been given scant attention. We argue here that the sexual knowledge and practice of young women are crucial factors in the spread of HIV and AIDS, and that information on these factors is limited and interpreted within a framework of patriarchal ideology which obscures the power relations embedded in sexual relations. These issues are discussed using data from an investigation of young women's sexual beliefs and behaviour (the Women Risk and AIDS Project — WRAP) in relation to government AIDS education campaigns.

     

Interviewing young sexual abuse victims with anatomically correct dolls

Two groups of children were interviewed with a structured format to elicit their responses to sexually anatomically correct dolls. Significant differences were found between the responses of children who had not been referred for suspected sexual abuse and those who had. Nonreferred children (n = 25) revealed very few behaviors indicative of abuse whereas referred children (n = 25) demonstrated significantly more sexually related behaviors when presented with the dolls. Of the age groups studied (2-6 years), 3 year olds were the most responsive to the dolls, while older children tended either to reveal their experiences or to become very nonresponsive. The authors argue for the use of structured interview techniques with use of the anatomical dolls and the collection of normative comparison data relative to the evaluation of suspected sexual abuse.     

Adding value to education through improved mental health: A review of the research evidence on the effectiveness of counselling for children and young people

This paper is set against the backdrop of an increasing number of strategies and policies developed by the Department for Education and Skills in the U.K. regarding the promotion of positive mental health in schools and the recognition of the value of improving mental health in relation to children’s learning, achievement, attendance and behaviour. The aim of the paper is to present the results from a systematic review of the research evidence on counselling children and young people and discuss these results in relation to the educational context and the added value to be gained in addressing the mental health needs of children and young people. A systematic review methodology is used to assess the outcome research literature. The review is structured around a range of counselling issues and four groups of counselling approaches: cognitive-behavioural, person-centred, psychodynamic and creative therapies. Results indicate that all four approaches to counselling are effective for children and young people across the full range of counselling issues. However, more high quality published research evidence was located for the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural counselling than other approaches, identifying significant gaps in the evidence bases for these approaches. Other gaps in the evidence include research into counselling for school related issues and self-harm.     

An Examination of Family-School Partnership Initiatives in Rural Prekindergarten Programs

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the various ways in which families become involved in state-funded rural prekindergarten programs for children identified as being at-risk for later school failure. Participants were 21 teachers/classrooms in prekindergarten programs located in nine rural Illinois communities. Data were collected over an 18-week period on the various parental involvement and family-school partnership strategies implemented by school personnel, and the patterns of parental participation that occurred in response to the different types of initiatives. Findings indicate that wide variations existed in the parent involvement and family-school partnership initiatives implemented across the nine programs. Results are discussed in terms of future research and program development efforts aimed at helping rural early childhood programs establish effective family-school partnerships.