Sports Participation and Physical Education in American Secondary Schools: Current Levels of Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities

Summarizes findings from a study of physical education requirements and school-based physical activity among American schoolchildren. Analyzes data by gender, grade, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status

The school food environment and student body mass index and food consumption: 2004 to 2007 national data

PURPOSE: This study identifies trends in the availability of various food choices in United States' middle and high schools from 2004 to 2007, and examines the potential associations between such food availability and students' self-reported eating habits and body mass index (BMI)-related outcomes. METHODS: Data are based on nationally representative samples of 78,442 students in 684 secondary schools surveyed from 2004 to 2007 as part of the Youth, Education, and Society (YES) study and the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study. In the YES study, school administrators and food service managers completed self-administered questionnaires on their school's food environment. In the MTF study, students in the same schools completed self-administered questionnaires, providing data used to construct BMI and food consumption measures. RESULTS: Overall, there was a decrease in the availability of regular-sugar/fat food items in both middle and high schools, and some indication of an increase in high school availability of reduced-fat food items through school lunch or a la carte. Some minimal evidence was found for relationships between the school food environment and student BMI-related outcomes and food consumption measures. CONCLUSIONS: United States secondary schools are making progress in the types of foods offered to students, with food items of lower nutritional value becoming less prevalent in recent years. Continued monitoring of food environment trends may help clarify whether and how such factors relate to youth health outcomes.The Youth, Education, and Society (YES) project (part of a larger research initiative, entitled Bridging the Gap: Research Informing Policy and Practice for Healthy Youth Behavior) is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Monitoring the Future study is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA01411). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders. (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; DA01411 - National Institute on Drug Abuse

Accessibility Over Availability: Associations Between the School Food Environment and Student Fruit and Green Vegetable Consumption

Background: No national studies have examined associations between (1) school food availability and accessibility and (2) secondary student fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption. This article uses 5 years of nationally representative data from secondary school students to examine associations between the school food environment and student fruit and green vegetable consumption. Methods: From 2008 to 2012, cross-sectional, nationally representative data from US middle and high school students were collected annually on self-reported fruit and green vegetable consumption. Each year, data from administrators at each relevant school were collected on food item availability (any venue) and accessibility (total number of school sources). Data were obtained from 10,254 eighth-grade students in 317 schools and 18,898 tenth- and 12th-grade students in 518 schools. Associations were estimated by multi-level models controlling for student- and school-level characteristics. Results: Availability showed minimal association with student consumption. Candy/regular-fat snack accessibility was associated negatively with middle school fruit consumption. Salad bar availability and accessibility were positively associated with middle school green vegetable consumption; FV accessibility was associated positively with high school fruit and green vegetable consumption. Significant associations were consistent across student racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Conclusions: Forthcoming USDA nutrition standards for school foods and beverages sold outside of reimbursable meal programs should result in the removal of school candy/regular-fat snacks. In deciding which items to make available under the new standards, schools should consider increasing the number of FV sources?including salad bars?thereby potentially increasing student FV consumption.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140338/1/chi.2014.0011.pd

Do Higher Cigarette Prices Encourage Youth to Use Marijuana?

Every major national tobacco legislation proposed in the past two years has called for significant increases in the price of cigarettes as a way to discourage youths from smoking. One argument used to oppose these bills is that increases in the price of cigarettes would cause youths to substitute marijuana for cigarettes. Although it has long been believed that cigarettes are a gateway drug,' no economic research has been done to determine whether cigarettes and marijuana are economic complements or substitutes. This paper begins to fill the void in the current research by examining the contemporaneous relationship between the demands for cigarettes and marijuana among a nationally representative sample of 8th, 10th and 12th graders from the 1992-1994 Monitoring the Future Project. Two part models are used to estimate reduced form demand equations. Examination of the cross-price effects clearly shows that higher cigarette prices will not increase marijuana use among youths. In addition to reducing youth smoking, we find that higher cigarette prices significantly reduce the average level of marijuana used by current users. Cigarette prices also have a negative effect on the probability of using marijuana findings are not significant at conventional levels.

New light curves and ephemeris for the close eclipsing binary V963 PER

We have obtained CCD photometry in 2010-11 of V963 Per (=GSC3355 0394), which is a recently identified close binary star with unequal eclipse depths. The seven new eclipse timings yield an improved ephemeris, but we caution that secondary eclipse can be affected by variation of the light curve. This variation seems to be on a monthly timescale at the few percent level.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Effects of Price and Access Laws on Teenage Smoking Initiation: A National Longitudinal Analysis

Over the past three decades a significant amount of economic research has established that increasing cigarette prices reduces cigarette smoking among both adults and adolescents. The consensus estimates for the price elasticity of adult demand from these studies fall in a narrow range of 0.3 to 0.5, suggesting that a 10% increase in the price of cigarettes would decrease adult consumption by 3%-5%. A smaller literature on youth responsiveness to cigarette prices has also emerged. A majority of these studies concluded that youth are up to three times as responsive to price as are adults. Only four econometric studies have attempted to model youth and young adult smoking initiation decisions. All four studies concluded that cigarette prices (or cigarette excise taxes) are insignificant determinants of smoking initiation. This study addresses the limitations of the previous studies on smoking initiation and examines the impact of cigarette prices and youth access laws on adolescent smoking initiation. Nationally representative longitudinal surveys of 8th and 10th graders as part of the Monitoring the Future project are employed in the analysis. State-specific prices and several measures of youth access restrictions are added to the survey data. Discrete-time hazard methods are used to model the probability of initiation. Contradicting the results of the four previous studies on smoking initiation, the results of this study clearly indicate that increases in the price of cigarettes would significantly reduce the number of adolescents who start smoking. The results are mixed with respect to youth access restrictions.

Profits, Commercial Food Supplier Involvement, and School Vending Machine Snack Food Availability: Implications for Implementing the New Competitive Foods Rule

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107388/1/josh12165.pd

Physical Activity Breaks and Facilities in US Secondary Schools

BACKGROUND Research on physical activity breaks and facilities (indoor and outdoor) in secondary schools is relatively limited. METHODS School administrators and students in nationally representative samples of 8th (middle school) and 10th/12th grade (high school) students were surveyed annually from 2008‐2009 to 2011‐2012. School administrators reported information about physical activity breaks and facilities. Students self‐reported height, weight, and physical activity. RESULTS The prevalence of physical activity breaks and indoor and outdoor facilities (dichotomized by median split) differed significantly by region of the country, school size, student race/ethnicity, and school socioeconomic status (SES). Breaks were associated with lower odds of overweight (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.91, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.83‐1.00) and obesity (AOR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.75‐0.99) among middle school students. Among low‐SES middle school students and schools, higher indoor facilities were associated with lower rates of overweight and obesity. Among high school students, higher indoor and outdoor facilities were associated with 19‐42% higher odds of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity. CONCLUSIONS Physical activity breaks and school facilities may help to address high rates of overweight/obesity and low physical activity levels among secondary students, especially lower‐SES students. Students in all schools should have equal access to these resources.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108694/1/josh12206.pd

How Academic Achievement, Attitudes, and Behaviors Relate to the Course of Substance Use During Adolescence: A 6-Year, Multiwave National Longitudinal Study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75027/1/1532-7795.1303005.pd

HIV/AIDS: Risk & protective behaviors among adults ages 21 to 40 in the U.S., 2004-2017

National Institute on Drug Abusehttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146526/1/FINAL FINAL 2.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146526/3/license_rdfDescription of FINAL FINAL 2.pdf : Annual monograp