Nutritional
and Environmental Interventions Can Help Decrease Child Deaths Worldwide
Interventions
that improve nutrition and environmental conditions can also provide
substantial gains toward the goal of reducing child mortality, especially when
the interventions prioritize the poor, according to a study in the Oct. 24/31
issue of JAMA, a theme issue on poverty and human development.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/nutritional-and.php
Journal
of the American Dental Association Spotlights Poverty, Its Effect on Oral
Health
The Journal
of the American Dental Association (JADA) joins 234 other international
scientific journals today in publishing a global theme issue on poverty and
human development, an unprecedented collaborative effort among the world's
biomedical publications. As part of this effort, JADA today is publishing
online four articles by researchers internationally respected for their work in
the area of increasing disadvantaged populations' access to health care. The Journal is proud to be one of the
participating publications, especially as the global theme issue underscores
the important role oral health plays in general well-being.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/journal-of-the.php
Using
Information Technologies to Conduct Clinical Trials in Low Income Settings
This week
Medicine publishes a special collection of articles that aim to highlight the
profound influence of poverty upon health, as part of the Council of Science
Editors' Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. Can the
international framework of children's rights be used to improve child survival
rates? In this tip sheet: Using information technologies to conduct clinical
trials in low income settings; and Improving access to health care in the
world's poorest countries.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/using-informati.php
**Children,
Youth & Families
Exercise
Improves Thinking, Reduces Diabetes Risk in Overweight Children
Just three
months of daily, vigorous physical activity in overweight children improves
their thinking and reduces their diabetes risk, researchers at the Medical
College of Georgia say. Studies of about
200 overweight, inactive children ages 7-11 also showed that a regular exercise
program reduces body fat and improves bone density. All study participants learned about healthy
nutrition and the benefits of physical activity; one-third also exercised 20
minutes after school and another third exercised for 40 minutes.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/exercise-improv.php
Child
Health Psychologists Need to Promote Adult Disease Prevention
Many of the
lifestyle habits that children and adolescents develop -- eating a diet high in
fat and low in fruits and vegetables, being physically inactive or sedentary,
and experimenting with tobacco and alcohol use -- can have a major impact on
their health later in life. Given that,
psychologists with expertise in children's health and behavior should be taking
more of a lead role in helping young people develop good lifestyle habits early
on and preventing these problems from occurring, says a researcher from Georgetown University Medical Center.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/child-health-ps.php
**************************************************************************
Have a
Website? Place HandsNet Headlines on your site – visit http://www.handsnet.org/addheadl.htm
************************************************************************
Gauging
Parent Knowledge about Teens' Substance Use
New
research results from the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions
suggest that most parents are aware of and accurately evaluate the extent of
their teenager's cigarette smoking, marijuana use, drinking and overall
substance use. What is novel about these
findings is that for the first time, detailed statistics are available about
parental knowledge of teen substance use for families in which the teen's
substance use is causing the parent stress, but the teen is not necessarily in
treatment.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/gauging-parent.php
Program
Awarded National Science Foundation Grant to Expand Mentoring for Girls
Techbridge,
Chabot Space & Science Center's 7-year-old program to encourage science,
technology and engineering careers for girls in underserved communities, has
received a $199,874 grant from the National Science Foundation to significantly
expand its training and support for role models who engage in K-12 outreach
efforts for girls in technology, engineering and science. Techbridge co-founding
director Linda Kekelis expects the project to reach
225,000 role models in the Role Models Make a World of Difference program
during the two-year period (2008-09) encompassed by the grant.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/chabot-space-sc.php
**Civic
Engagement - Social Entrepreneurship
Social Enterprise Club of Columbia Business School to Hold 2007 Social Enterprise Conference Oct. 26
The annual
social enterprise conference at Columbia Business School features a diverse group of
business leaders from the private, public and nonprofit sectors who challenge
conventional thinking and define success in terms of social and environmental
benefits, as well as financial returns.
Building on previous years, the theme for the 2007 conference will be
‘Creating Value’ and will provide a forum for speakers and attendees to
re-define how they create value in business and in society.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/creating-value.php
**Community
Development
Personal
Safety Concerns Could Thwart Exercise Targets for the Poor
Exercise is
strongly promoted for the maintenance of good health -- particularly as regards
people on lower incomes, who are generally less physically active. However, new
research published in PLoS Medicine suggests that one
barrier to physical activity in low-income areas may be that people do not
consider their environment safe enough to allow them to walk, cycle or take
other forms of outdoor exercise
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/personal-safety.php
**Economic
Security
Two New
Tools for Measuring Income and Poverty
The UMD/AEI
Poverty Tabulator (designed by John Coder of Sentier
Research) is a Java-based computer program that enables users to generate
poverty estimates from 1968 to 2006. Users can specify the unit of analysis and
the definition of income. The data can be displayed by demographic, social, and
economic characteristics and tabulations can be downloaded into an Excel
spreadsheet to perform additional calculations. (Copies of the software and
data sets will be provided to participants.) To learn more about the UMD/AEI
Poverty Tabulator, go to www.welfareacademy.org.
The Census
Bureau’s CPS Table Creator allows users to create tables showing income and
poverty statistics by demographic, social, and economic characteristics, for
survey years 2003 – 2006. Building on the existing CPS Table Creator, the
Bureau has developed a web-based tool that provides users a way to explore
alternative income and poverty measures by choosing income definitions, poverty
thresholds, consumer price adjustment factors, etc. To learn more about the CPS
Table Creator, go to www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstc/cps_table_creator.html.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/two-new-tools-f.php
Making
Ends Meet: How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Family in California?
This study
from the California Budget Project
estimates the costs of housing, utilities, child care, transportation, food,
health coverage, taxes, and other necessities for families with two children
and for single adults. The study finds
that families need to earn incomes that are much higher than the federal
poverty line to afford to make ends meet.
Approximately half of California's workers earn less than the hourly
wage needed to support a family of four with two working parents at the level
estimated by the CBP basic family budget.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/making-ends-mee.php
Americans
Say: It's Still the Economy, Stupid
The
bursting of the proverbial real estate bubble coupled with a mortgage and
credit crisis has many Americans murmuring "recession." With 64
percent of Americans harboring unfavorable opinions about the economy, voters
are anxious to hear how the presidential candidates will address economic
issues, including the housing market, during the October 30 Democratic
presidential primary debate in Philadelphia.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/americans-say-i.php
Strengthening
Unemployment Insurance
The Economic Policy Institute’s latest Briefing
Paper analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the current UI program and the
Trade Adjustment Assistance program in helping workers harmed by the loss of
jobs through globalization. The paper
also focuses in detail on the Kling proposal's combination of wage insurance,
temporary earnings replacement accounts, and low-wage co-insurance for the
lowest-paid workers.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/strengthening-u.php
HHS
Awards $57.8 Million through Compassion Capital Fund
The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services announced awards totaling $57,840,781
through the Compassion Capital Fund. These awards will help 387 faith-based and
community organizations enhance their ability to provide social services to
those most in need. Demonstration program
grantees serve as intermediaries providing assistance to and building the
capacity of smaller faith-based and community organizations in their
community. The second set awards a total
of $10.3 million to 219 faith-based and community organizations through the CCF
Targeted Capacity Building Program. The
third set of grants awards a total of $7.5 million to 31 organizations
participating in the Communities Empowering Youth program.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/hhs-awards-578.php
**Education
School District Size Often Determines Fate of Zero Tolerance
The size of
the school district often determines whether students are punished under zero
tolerance policies and given another chance for an education, a new University of Florida study finds. In Florida, larger school districts are more
likely than smaller ones to have mandatory expulsion policies for students who
bring guns to schools and to impose mandatory suspension for the possession of
knives and drugs, as well as bullying.
"Children are increasingly being sent to judges and jails for
offenses that traditionally were dealt with in the principal's office and
after-school detentions. Thirty years
ago it would have been unusual to see a child handcuffed by a police officer.”
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/university-of-f-1.php
Online
Education Reaches New Heights; Nearly 3.5 Million Students Now Learning Online
Nearly one
in five higher education students now take at least one class online, according
to a new study of more than 2,500 colleges and universities nationwide. The
2007 Sloan Survey of Online Learning, released by the Babson
Survey Research Group, reveals that online enrollment rose by nearly ten
percent in fall 2006, to 3.49 million students. Approximately 3.18 million
students had at least one online course in fall 2005.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/online-educatio.php
Education
Secretary Appoints Five New Members to National Assessment Governing Board
The U.S
.Department of Education announced the appointment of five new members to the
National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB).
The 26-member governing board develops policy guidance for the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the only continuing assessment of
what students know and can do in various subjects at the elementary and
secondary school levels. Under the No
Child Left Behind law, which requires that states participate every two years
in the national assessment's state-level samples for assessing reading and math
achievement in grades four and eight, the national assessment has taken on a
new role as an independent yardstick of school achievement.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/spellings-appoi.php
**Health
State-by-State
Study on Women's Health Finds Small Gains and Key Setbacks
According
to the National Women's Law Center, while some
states made some small gains in critical indicators for improving women's
health, the nation as a whole and most states are falling behind in their quest
to meet national goals for women's health, a comprehensive analysis of state
policies and women's health status finds.
Making the Grade on Women's Health: A National and State-by-State Report
Card is the fourth in a series of triennial reports to grade and rank each
state based on 27 health status benchmarks developed largely using goals set by
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010
initiative.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/statebystate-st.php
Value-Driven
Health Care Purchasing: Four States that Are Ahead of the Curve
According
to studies from The Commonwealth Fund, in
the absence of a strong national directive for health care reform, some states
have resorted to higher cost-sharing for public employees, tightened Medicaid
eligibility and benefit cuts, or caps on spending. But a handful of states and
counties are taking an entirely different approach in addressing rising health
costs and quality concerns: obtaining greater value for their health care
dollars through "value-based purchasing
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/valuedriven-hea-4.php
*Hunger and
Nutrition
Healthy
Diet and Lifestyle Behaviors Associated with Decreased Risk of Heart Attack in
Women
Women who
eat a healthy diet, drink moderate amounts of alcohol, are physically active,
maintain a healthy weight and do not smoke have a significantly reduced risk of
heart attack, according to a report in the Oct. 22 issue of Archives of
Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Coronary heart
disease is the most important cause of death and disability in women," the
authors write as background information in the article.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/10/healthy-diet-an.php
