Innovative
'Social Norms' Campaign Targets Fla. Students
The Broward County Commission
on Substance Abuse has partnered with Broward County Schools to target students
at Everglades High School in South
Broward, Florida, with a "social norms" campaign,
the Sun-Sentinel reported on August 7. "Social norms campaigns are designed
to tell them the reality of what with their friends are doing, and work with
the kids to believe and adopt this healthy behavior through the years."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/innovative_soci.html
Breaking
Through Adoption’s Racial Barriers
A growing number of white
couples are pushing past longtime cultural resistance to adopt black children.
In 2004, 26 percent of black children adopted from foster care, about 4,200,
were adopted transracially, nearly all by whites. That is up from roughly
14 percent, or 2,200, in 1998, according to a New York Times analysis of data
from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect at Cornell University
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/breaking_throug.html
Fox
and Kaiser Form Partnership To Inform Young People on Risk and Responsibility
The PAUSE campaign is a
public education partnership of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Fox Networks
Group to help young people (ages 15 and older) to make smart choices and maintain
healthy life-styles. The campaign helps teens understand the power they have
to make difficult decisions on a range of issues including teen pregnancy
and sexually transmitted diseases; alcohol and substance use; and online safety,
among other topics.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/fox_and_kaiser.html
Experts
challenge popular belief that today's children are 'over-scheduled'
Leading child development
experts are challenging the popular notion that today's children are "over-scheduled"
as a result of the hurried and stressful lives from participating in too many
organized activities. The report also highlights that youth who participate
in organized activities show healthier functioning than those who do not participate,
in areas such as academic success, substance use, and the quality of relationships
with their parents.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/experts_challen.html
Study
shows teen body dissatisfaction predicts use of behaviors that can lead to
poor health
Adolescents who feel dissatisfied
with their bodies are at higher risk for future binge eating, smoking, poor
eating, and decreased physical activity, according to new research from the
University of Minnesota School of Public Health. A study published in the
August 2006 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health found lower levels of
body satisfaction among teenagers can predict the use of unhealthy weight
control behaviors, which can lead to weight gain and poorer overall health.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/u_of_m_study_sh.html
Study
finds parental time to be key in fight against childhood obesity
The fight against obesity
in children just got a new weapon, thanks to a multi-year study by researchers
from Texas A&M University. The study found that the amounts
and quality of time parents spent with their children has a direct effect
on children's rates of obesity,
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/study_finds_par.html
Childhood
obesity caused by 'toxic environment' of Western diets, study says
A UCSF researcher has determined
that a key reason for the epidemic of pediatric obesity, now the most commonly
diagnosed childhood ailment, is that high-calorie, low-fiber Western diets
promote hormonal imbalances that encourage children to overeat.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/childhood_obesi.html
'Thirdhand
Smoke' Can Imperil Babies
Babies can absorb particles
and gases emitted by cigarettes from walls, clothes, hair and skin -- including
up to 90 percent of the nicotine found in tobacco smoke -- experts warn.
George Matt of San Diego State University and colleagues found that babies, who explore the world by
crawling and touching, can swallow, inhale, or absorb dangerous chemicals
from cigarette-smoke residue, which can stay in the environment for months.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/thirdhand_smoke.html
**Community Development
Release
of Mississippi Gulf Coast 'Recovery' Report Will Mark First Anniversary of
Katrina
Mississippi
State Conference NAACP will
release a wide-ranging report on the state and federal government recovery
efforts on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's first anniversary, Wednesday, August
23. The report will be edited and published by the Initiative for Regional
and Community Transformation at Rutgers University with contributions from
the Mississippi Center for Justice, the Brookings Institute and Public and
Private Ventures.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/release_of_miss.html
**Economic Security
Skin
tone more important than educational background for African Americans seeking
jobs
When it comes to the workplace,
African-Americans may face a more complex situation--the effects of their
own skin tone. For the first time, a study indicates that dark-skinned African-Americans
face a distinct disadvantage when applying for jobs, even if they have resumes
superior to lighter-skinned black applicants.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/skin_tone_more.html
The
'Good Life' elusive for middle class working couples with children
In research to be presented
at the American Sociological Association's annual meeting, Phyllis Moen, McKnight
Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota, says that
middle class couples who both work struggle to compete in job environments
designed for single earners with no family responsibilities. According to
Moen, couples still are operating under outdated work policies and practices
and institutional and organizational rules designed for a one earner, one
homemaker model.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/the_good_life_e.html
Work,
poverty, and single-mother families
This month marks the 10th
anniversary of the welfare reform legislation signed in August 1996. Those
touting the program's success often cite the sharp decline in the poverty
rates of single-mother families over the course of the latter 1990s. But
what economic factors are really at the heart of these improvements, and have
they carried over into today's economy? Get the facts at a glance in this
week's Economic Snapshot from the Economic Policy
Institute.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/work_poverty_an.html
On
Eve of Welfare Reform's 10th Anniversary New Report 'Follows the Money'; Temporary
Assistance No Longer 'Welfare,' But Many Policymakers Have Yet to Adjust to
New Realities
The Brookings Institution
is releasing a national report on how states spend Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (Temporary Assistance) block grant funds. The report is being
issued on the eve of the 10th anniversary (August 22) of the 1996 federal
law which established the block grant and followed other reforms, like the
expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit in 1993, that boosted supports for
parents in low-wage jobs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/on_eve_of_welfa.html
**Education
Is
Your Child a Victim or a Bully? Expert Offers Advice
It's a concern for parents
and children alike during the school year: What if not all that goes on at
a school playground is fun and games? According to a study by James Snyder,
a child psychologist at Wichita State University in Kansas, kindergartners bully each other once
every six minutes. "All kids are exposed to bullying, and most kids
figure out how to deal with it," said Snyder, who has studied schoolyard
bullies and their victims for the past eight years.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/is_your_child_a.html
Bayer
Foundation Awards $150,000 Grant to Nationally Recognized Bay Area Biotechnology
School-to-Career Program
The Bayer Foundation tonight
awarded Biotech Partners a $150,000 grant, further demonstrating the it's
commitment to education and workforce development and to ensure today's students
are well- prepared to be tomorrow's leaders and innovators. Biotech Partners
is the Bay Area's only non-profit organization providing a comprehensive,
hands-on, bioscience education and job training program for populations underrepresented
in the sciences -- especially students of color (97 percent), young women
(54 percent) and those from low-income households.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/bayer_foundatio.html
Education
Department of Releases Results of State Plans for Highly Qualified Teachers
in Every Classroom
The U.S. Department of Education
released initial peer review feedback and related information on revised comprehensive
state plans for ensuring that all public elementary and secondary school students
are taught by highly qualified teachers. The Department determined that the
vast majority of states made serious efforts to develop plans for having experienced,
well-trained educators in classrooms, particularly in low-performing, disadvantaged
schools.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/us_department_o_7.html
**Health
Two-fifths
of US adults report experiencing unsafe, wasteful, or poorly coordinated health
care
According to a new survey
from The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System,
a surprisingly high proportion of Americans -- 42 percent -- reported experiencing
poorly coordinated, inefficient, or unsafe care at some time during the past
two years.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/twofifths_of_us.html
New
study links higher income with lower disability rates
Numerous studies have already
established the link between extreme poverty and poor health, but a new study
led by a public health researcher at the University of California, Berkeley,
has found that health disparities exist even between those with higher incomes.
"What was unusual was that we found that people in the middle class were
still at a disadvantage compared with those at just a slightly higher income."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/new_study_links_2.html
XVI
International AIDS Conference: Free Online Access to Sessions and Resources,
The Kaiser Family Foundation will provide live
and tape-delayed Webcasts and transcripts of each day's sessions, including
the opening and closing sessions, all plenary sessions, and selected other
sessions and press conferences. News summaries from international media will
be included in the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/xvi_internation.html
Community
model effective in allotting anti-AIDS meds, Stanford doctor says
When there are millions
of patients clamoring for anti-AIDS drugs and precious little to go around,
who decides which patients go to the front of the line? The answer, says
Stanford AIDS researcher Dennis Israelski, MD, is relatively simple: the affected
community. "I believe if you give the affected communities the necessary
resources, appropriate tools and training, it will do a better job in providing
care and treatment than approaching the problem from the top-down."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/community_model.html
Planned
Medicaid Cuts Cause Rift With States
The White House is clashing
with governors of both parties over a plan to cut Medicaid payments to hospitals
and nursing homes that care for millions of low-income people. The White
House says the changes are needed to ensure the "fiscal integrity"
of Medicaid and to curb "excessive payments" to health care providers.
The National Governors Association said it "would impose a huge financial
burden on states," already struggling with explosive growth in health
costs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/planned_medicai.html
**Substance Abuse
Readers
Respond: War on Drugs (Part 1)
Join Together received an
unprecedented number of passionate, thoughtful responses to "Mission
Accomplished" in War on Drugs?
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/readers_respond.html
Parental
cigarette use is 'double whammy' for children
A new study exploring smoking,
heavy drinking and marijuana use across three generations indicates that the
children of a parent who uses any of these substances are more likely to smoke,
binge drink or use marijuana in adolescence and adulthood. Drug transmission
across generations, the study found, was for a general tendency to use these
substances rather than to use any one specifically, with the exception of
tobacco.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/parental_cigare.html
Children
of Smokers Face Future Drug Problems
Children of smokers are
more likely to smoke themselves as well as use other types of legal and illicit
drugs, Medical News Today reported. "If your parents were smokers it
is a double whammy, because you are more likely to use drugs in general and
even more likely to smoke cigarettes," said study co-author a researcher
from the University of Washington Social Development Research Group.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/children_of_smo.html
