Study
Identifies Factors Associated with Successful Weight Loss in Teens
Participating in moderate
to vigorous physical activity and limiting time in front of the television
are some of the keys to successful weight loss in teens, according to researchers
at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Overweight teens who lost
weight participated in significantly more moderate to vigorous physical activity
than those who maintained the same weight or gained.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/u_of_m_study_id.php
Improving
Outcomes in Premature Births
The costs due to complications
from preterm birth are staggering. In Canada, outlays for specialized care of surviving
preterm infants are estimated to be almost $2 billion per year. In a five-year,
randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study, researchers found that giving
nitroglycerin to mothers who had entered premature labor led to significant
improvement in their baby's health.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/improving_outco.php
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**Community Development
New
Clinic Brings Health Services to Underserved Neighborhood
A new children's health
center is opening up, bringing high quality, affordable health care to a community
that in the past has often been overlooked. "Thanks to the amazing efforts
of California Pacific Medical Center Foundation and the United Way, the children of Bayview Hunters Point will have access to excellent care,
right in their own neighborhood. The clinic will provide a wide range of
services including physical exams, well-baby care, urgent care appointments,
nutrition education, referrals to specialists, even weight management classes
and mental health services.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/california_paci.php
**Economic Security
Subsidized
Housing and Employment
According to MDRC, for many
years, policymakers have agreed that low-income, working-age people who receive
government rent subsidies ought to strive for self-sufficiency and that the
housing subsidy system should play an actively supportive role --- or at least
not stand in the way. A variety of self-sufficiency innovations and housing
policy reforms have been tried over the past two decades, and new ones are
being proposed all the time. This paper argues for building a stronger base
of evidence in the housing-employment policy arena through an expanded use
of randomized controlled trials.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/subsidized_hous.php
Oregon's
Income Taxes on Working Poor and Near Poor Among Highest in the Nation
Working Oregonians who are
poor or near-poor pay high state income taxes compared to their counterparts
in other states, according to a report released today by the Washington, D.C.-based
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Oregon Center for Public Policy. Oregon is one
of only 19 states that levy an income tax on two-parent families of four living
in poverty and one of only 15 states that levy an income tax on a single-parent
family of three with income at the poverty level.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/oregons_income.php
**Education
Early
Child Care Linked to Increases in Vocabulary, Some Problem Behaviors in 5th
and 6th Grades
The most recent analysis
of a long-term NIH-funded study found that children who received higher quality
child care before entering kindergarten had better vocabulary scores in the
fifth grade than did children who received lower quality care. The study
authors also found that the more time children spent in center-based care
before kindergarten, the more likely their sixth grade teachers were to report
such problem behaviors as "gets in many fights," "disobedient
at school," and "argues a lot."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/early_child_car.php
School
Achievement, Perceptions of Ability and Interest Change as Children Age
Children in early grades
may like a subject in which they don't feel very competent, or they may feel
competent in a subject in spite of poor grades. But by the end of high school,
children generally feel most interested in subjects in which they feel they
are the strongest. Those are the findings of a new study published in the
March-April 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/school_achievem.php
Preschool
Teacher Education Alone Unlikely to Improve Classroom Quality or Learning
According to researchers
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, policymakers are increasingly requiring
that public preschool teachers have at least a bachelor's degree, preferably
in early childhood education. Rather than focusing solely on teachers' educational
attainment, however, they should take a broad approach, supporting effective
and comprehensive professional development activities. An analysis of seven
major studies of early care and education suggests that policies focused solely
on teacher education are not likely to increase classroom quality or boost
children's academic gains.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/preschool_teach.php
Financing
College, Importance of Postsecondary Education the Focus of March TV Show
Airing Tonight
Tips for parents on paying
for college, as well as a discussion on why postsecondary education is so
vital to career success will be the focus of the March edition of the U.S.
Department of Education's TV show, "Education News Parents Can Use."
Also covered is how the Commission on the Future of Higher Education's final
report and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' Action Plan will
improve the accessibility, affordability and accountability of U.S. colleges and universities?
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/financing_colle.php
**Health
Who
Gets Heart Failure? Race Takes Back Seat to Diabetes and High Blood Pressure
Diabetes and high blood
pressure, two conditions rooted in genetics and environmental surroundings,
play a much greater role than race alone in determining who is mostly likely
to develop heart failure, according to the latest study from cardiologists
at Johns Hopkins. Experts say that racial disparities have long been known
to exist in who actually develops risk factors for the condition, with African
Americans nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes and more than
a third as likely to have high blood pressure than Caucasian Americans.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/who_gets_heart.php
American
Dental Association President Kathy Roth Urges Congress to Improve Access to
Dental Care
Kathleen Roth, D.D.S., president
of the American Dental Association (ADA), will testify before the Health Subcommittee
of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on improving access to dental
care. The ADA has modeled a new type of allied dental
professional, the Community Dental Health Coordinator (CDHC), which could
greatly enhance the productivity of the dental team, by extending our reach
into underserved communities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/american_dental_1.php
**Nonprofit Management
Online
Portal to Extensive Social Work Content Launches on First World Social Work
Day
Web searchers looking for
information and resources about numerous social service and psychosocial topics
will now have the entire social work profession at their fingertips. In celebration
of the first ever World Social Work Day, the National Association of Social
Workers (NASW), has launched a new online search tool to help students, educators,
journalists, policymakers and various professionals quickly find Web content
on a wide range of issues.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/online_portal_t.php
