Physically Active Teens Less Likely
to Become Overweight as Young Adults
Participating in school-based physical education and
certain extracurricular physical activities during adolescence may be associated
with a lower risk of being overweight as a young adult, according to a report
in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine,
one of the JAMA/Archives journals. About 16 percent of U.S.
teens are overweight or obese, according to background information in the
article. Eighty-five percent of obese adolescents become obese adults.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/physically-acti.php
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Preventing Child Abuse and Strengthening
Families are Focus of National Parent Leadership Month
February has been designated National Parent Leadership
Month (NPLM) by Parents Anonymous, the nation's oldest child abuse prevention
organization. Now in its fourth year, NPLM was created as a means of educating
the public about the importance of Parent Leadership in preventing child abuse
and neglect. Better outcomes for families are achieved when parents have
the opportunity to use their expertise through meaningful and active roles
in the planning, implementation, oversight and evaluation of programs that
affect families and children. Parents find themselves achieving things that
seemed impossible before.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/preventing-chil-1.php
Supporting Families, Nurturing Young
Children: Early Head Start Programs in 2006
This policy brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy, analyzes the 2006 Program Information
Reports (PIR) data for the Early Head Start program, which serves children
under age 3 and pregnant women. Since 2004, more Early Head Start children
and pregnant women received dental exams; more pregnant women had health insurance;
and more pregnant women received mental health services.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/supporting-fami.php
Foster Youth Deliver Recommendations
from First Statewide Career Development Summit
at Legislative Hearing
"Foster Youth needs what every young person needs
- support, connections, and experiences that prepare them to be successful
as adults," said Steve Trippe, President and
Executive Director, New Ways to Work. "While there are a wide number
of programs and initiatives in local communities that seek to address their
transition from care, California needs to step up and ensure that every foster
youth is prepared life as a working adult and contributing citizen when they
'age out' of the system." A cross-disciplinary workgroup including youth
should work with the Legislature and create uniform policies and an efficient
coordinated service system in which foster youth receive priority for services
across departments.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/foster-youth-de.php
**Civic Engagement
Education Nonprofit GLOBIO Receives
Google Grant
GLOBIO, an education nonprofit based in Portland, Ore., that serves
children in homes and schools around the state and across the world, announced
today that it has been awarded a Google Grant. GLOBIO is an education nonprofit
organization that develops online resources and learning activities that increase
children's interest in and understanding of our world, encouraging them to
become better global citizens and environmental stewards who make healthy
choices and use natural resources wisely. GLOBIO's
main program, Glossopedia, is a free online encyclopedia
of life where children age 7-12 can explore their interest in nature, people,
and places.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/education-nonpr.php
Alinsky, Clinton, Obama
The principal difference between Hillary and Obama is not race or gender at all, but Saul
Alinsky.
Where Clinton rejected
it as "quaint" and moved on to law school and hitched her wagon
to Bill's star, Obama went to the church basements
of Chicago; that
experience brought him to prominence at Harvard. Hillary became a master of
the knife fight, Obama guerilla warfare. Hillary's
weapon is influence, Obama's is people.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/alinsky-clinton.php
New Media, New Voters: The 'Giant Conversation'
on ABC and Facebook Comes Up Short
The January 5th ABC/Facebook mash-up
of a televised debate and an online chatfest represented
a special moment in the presidential contest.
Thanks to the Internet, ABC and Facebook had a chance to move this word of
mouth affect from the offline world to the online by creating an interactive
environment for viewers of the televised debate. If you participated, your
word would have gone forth, and maybe back and forth
with other debate watchers, and best of all, maybe back and forth and outward
to members not already tuned into the debate and the Web page. But during
the debate, ABC gave the Facebook connections about as much time and seriousness
as a couple of advertisements - perfunctory invitations to participate.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/new-media-new-v.php
**Community Development
Location of Business by Women Entrepreneurs
Leads to Lost Economic Opportunities
Greater family responsibilities and feeling shut out
of "the old boys' club" can lead women entrepreneurs to locate their
businesses away from a city's economic hub and closer to home, a recent paper
has found. But this phenomenon also leads to a type of business segregation
similar to housing patterns for blacks and whites, resulting in lost economic
opportunity. To locate closer to home because of exclusion from business
networks "is a negative segregation process that makes the whole country
poorer," says paper co-author William Strange, a professor of real estate
and economics at the University of
Toronto's Rotman
School of Management.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/location-of-bus.php
Pennsylvania Commits Nearly $5 Million to Spur Economic Growth in 5 Counties
Governor Edward G. Rendell today said a new $5 million
investment by the commonwealth will result in the creation and retention of
nearly 400 jobs in five counties. The low-interest loans from the Pennsylvania
Industrial Development Authority will: help seven projects -- primarily with
companies in the manufacturing industry; leverage more than $8.6 million in
private sector funding; and add more than 250,000 square feet of infrastructure.
The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education
system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment
to support our communities and businesses.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/pennsylvania-go-1.php
**Economic Security
Census Bureau Releases Poverty Estimates
for States, Counties and School Districts
The U.S. Census Bureau today released 2005 poverty estimates
for each of the nation's almost 14,000 Title I-eligible school districts.
The estimates are produced in order for the Department of Education to implement
provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
The school district data, part of the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates,
are contained in data tables showing the number of poor children ages 5 to
17 in families. The tables also contain 2005 state- and county-level estimates
of median household income and the total number of poor children younger than
18, related children between 5 and 17 in families; and for states, through
age 4.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/census-bureau-r.php
The Balance Sheets of Low-Income Households:
What We Know About Their Assets and Liabilities
This report from the Urban Institute synthesizes current
research and other available information on the assets and liabilities of
low-income households into a variety of portraits. These data allow practitioners
and researchers to begin to form a comprehensive representation of the balance
sheets of low-income households and sets the stage for future research and
policy discussion around the finances of low-income households.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/the-balance-she.php
Job Market Flashing Recession
The unemployment rate jumped up to 5% last month, and
non-government payrolls fell by 13,000, in a far weaker job report than was
expected, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the labor
market for December 2007. Total payrolls rose by 18,000 the weakest month
for job growth since August 2003, the last month of the jobless recovery.
While the jobless rate remains relatively low, at 5%, an uptick
of this magnitude (up 0.3%) has historically been either a symptom or a harbinger
of recession.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/job-market-flas.php
PA Announces Debut of Career Guide
to Help Students, Job Seekers
Governor Edward G. Rendell said today students and job
seekers now have a new resource to help them explore the educational and career
opportunities in the commonwealth. The publication is designed for students,
parents, counselors, first-time job seekers and those considering a career
change. This year's version of the manual spotlights occupations in two of
Pennsylvania's
most important industries: agriculture and manufacturing. The Pennsylvania
Career Guide is produced by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry's
Center for Workforce Information & Analysis and the Pennsylvania Department
of Education.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/gov-rendell-ann.php
**Education
Three Ways to Lower Pre-K Expulsion
Rates
Yale University's Edward Zigler
Center in Child Development and Social Policy will release a new report, "Implementing
Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion," at an audio
press conference on January 10. Two years ago, the Zigler
Center
published the heavily reported first research ever on the rate of expulsion
in prekindergarten programs for three- and four-year-olds. That study found
that pre-K students are expelled at a rate more than three times that of children
in the K-12 grades.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/new-study-ident.php
Apply Early for Federal Student Aid
with the FAFSA
The start of the calendar year also marks the beginning
of the college financial aid season with the release of the U.S. Department
of Education's 2008-09 - Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
The FAFSA is the qualifying form for all federal grants and loans as well
as many state and private student aid programs. Each year, the U.S. Department
of Education disburses more than $80 billion in higher education grants and
loans to students attending postsecondary schools, but, to qualify, students
must first complete the FAFSA.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/apply-early-for.php
U.S. Department of Education Seeks Nominations for American Stars of Teaching
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking nominations
for its fifth annual American Stars of Teaching project, which recognizes
exemplary teachers who raise student achievement, use innovative classroom
strategies and make a difference in their students' lives. "The American
Stars of Teaching overall goal is to engage some of the nation's best teachers
and practitioners in sharing strategies for raising student achievement and
informing teachers of the latest successful research-based practices. The
initiative also includes regional and district summer workshops for teachers,
roundtables, regular e-mail updates, digital learning and other professional
development opportunities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/us-department-o-5.php
**Health
4 Health Behaviors Can Add 14 Extra
Years of Life
People who adopt four healthy behaviors -- not smoking;
taking exercise; moderate alcohol intake; and eating five servings of fruit
and vegetables a day -- live on average an additional fourteen years of life
compared with people who adopt none of these behaviors, according to a study
published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.
There is overwhelming evidence showing that lifestyles such as smoking, diet
and physical activity influence health and longevity but there is little information
about their combined impact.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/4-health-behavi.php
Heart Patients Find Education Programs
Lead to Better Health
Older women heart patients benefit from educational
programs as a supplement to clinical care to help significantly lower cardiac
symptoms, lose weight and increase physical activity, a new study shows.
The new research from the University of
Michigan suggests
that if hospitals and clinicians offered specially designed group or individual
programs, depending on the desired outcome, female heart patients over 60
would need less health care and have a better quality of life.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/heart-patients.php
Despite Efforts, Significant Racial
Disparities in Cancer Therapy Still Exist
Black patients are significantly less likely than their
white counterparts to receive therapy for various kinds of cancer, despite
recent efforts to close gaps in treatment, according to a study by researchers
at Yale School of Medicine published in the January 7 online issue of the
journal Cancer. Prior research revealed racial disparities in cancer care
in the early 1990s. The team found that throughout the study period, black
patients were significantly less likely than white patients to receive therapy
for cancers of the lung, breast, colon and prostate.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/despite-efforts.php
Connection between Job Loss and Poor
Health
Employees who lose their jobs because of their health
suffer more significant depression and detrimental health outcomes than people
who lose their jobs for non-health reasons, new research shows. It's not
clear how many people involuntarily lose their jobs for health-related reasons,
but shaping policy to meet the needs of this population of the unemployed
is critical, a University of
Michigan professor
says. Increasingly, part-time, temporary or short-term service industry jobs
are replacing the standard, full-time jobs disappearing from manufacturing
and other industries, and the new jobs often lack health insurance coverage
or unemployment insurance eligibility.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/new-research-co.php
Financial Burdens of Health Care, 2001
- 2004
Rising health care costs, combined with slowed economic
growth, have created greater financial burdens for U.S.
families in recent years---and raised the likelihood that they will face problems
paying bills, accumulate medical debt, and even forgo needed medical care.
In a Commonwealth Fund supported study examining families' financial burdens
and out-of-pocket spending between 2001 and 2004, researchers found that by
2004, more than 45 million Americans lived in families with high financial
burdens---spending more than 10 percent of their after-tax income on health
care. "Financial burdens have increased to the point at which private
insurance is no longer able to provide financial protection for an increasing
number of families," say the authors.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/financial-burde.php
U.S. Ranks Last Among Other Industrialized Nations on Preventable Deaths
The United States
places last among 19 countries when it comes to deaths that could have been
prevented by access to timely and effective health care, according to new
research supported by The Commonwealth Fund and published in the January/February
issue of Health Affairs. The authors note that "it is difficult to disregard
the observation that the slow decline in U.S.
amenable mortality has coincided with an increase in the uninsured population,
an issue that is now receiving renewed attention in several states and among
presidential candidates from both parties."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/new-study-us-ra.php
**Nutrition and Healthy Diet
Research Finds Disordered Eating Less
Common among Teen Girls Who Regularly Eat Family Meals
Adolescent girls who frequently eat meals with their
families appear less likely to use diet pills, laxatives, or other extreme
measures to control their weight five years later, according to research from
the Project Eating among Teens (Project EAT) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Among teen girls, those
who ate five or more meals with their families each week in 1999 were significantly
less likely to report using extreme measures---including binge eating and
self-induced vomiting---to control their weight in 2004, regardless of their
socio-demographic characteristics, body mass index, or family connectedness.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/u-of-m-research.php
For Nutrition Info, Moms Like the Web
Best
A Web site is a better source of information on nutrition
than a video game or printed pamphlet, according to a study of low-income
mothers reported in the January issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education
and Behavior. The study suggested that the mothers liked the Web site format
best. They paid more attention to information presented on the Web site and
understood it better. They were also more likely to say they would go back
to the Web site for nutrition information, compared to the video game or pamphlet.
The researchers conclude, "Future interventions that integrate media
need to consider how people use media in addition to what media they use."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/for-nutrition-i.php
Eat Less or Exercise More? Either Way
Leads to More Youthful Hearts
Overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight
get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health, according to
a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Studying
a group of healthy, overweight but not obese, middle-aged men and women, the
researchers found that a yearlong regimen of either calorie restriction or
exercise increase had positive effects on heart function.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/eat-less-or-exe.php
**Seniors
Lack of Imagination in Older Adults
Linked to Declining Memory
Most children are able to imagine their future selves
as astronauts, politicians or even superheroes; however, many older adults
find it difficult to recollect past events, let alone generate new ones.
A new Harvard University study
reveals that the ability of older adults to form imaginary scenarios is linked
to their ability to recall detailed memories. According to the study, episodic
memory, which represents our personal memories of past experiences, "allows
individuals to project themselves both backward and forward in subjective
time."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/lack-of-imagina.php
**Substance Abuse
California Gets Mixed Grades in Tobacco Report Card
California scored
a range of grades from A to F in the American Lung Association's State of
Tobacco Control 2007 report, which highlighted success in smokefree air and youth access and detailed challenges regarding
the state's cigarette tax and tobacco prevention and control spending. The
annual American Lung Association report card grades each of the 50 states,
the District of Columbia
and Puerto Rico
on four key tobacco control policies: smokefree
air laws, cigarette tax, tobacco prevention spending and youth access laws.
California received
a D grade for cigarette taxes, an A grade for smokefree
air, an F grade for tobacco prevention spending, and an A grade for youth
access.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/01/california-gets.php
