Adolescent Health Behaviors and Difficulty Concentrating, Remembering, and Making Decisions

Unifying Public Health Surveillance: A Scoping Review of Global Use of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey

PURPOSE

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a well-established surveillance tool designed to document the health risk behaviors of youth. However, there is limited insight into the use of the survey outside of the United States. The aim of this scoping review was to assess the global presence and utilization of the YRBS.

METHODS

A structured electronic search of all publication years (through February 2020) was conducted to identify articles in PubMed and EBSCOhost. The search identified 128 articles that used the YRBS beyond the United States.

RESULTS

More than one-third of all countries, territories, and dependencies were represented in the articles, with the greatest use among upper-middle and high-income economies and those in the East Asia and Pacific geographic region. Priority health-risk behaviors identified were alcohol and other drug use (51%), tobacco use (48%), and unintentional and intentional injuries (44%). The articles predominantly suggested that the survey data be used to influence programs, policies, and practices (57%).

DISCUSSION

The development and proliferation of surveillance systems has allowed for important contributions to public health. Extensive use of the YRBS is notable; however, greater efforts are needed to support more systematic and collaborative approaches for evaluating youth behaviors around the world.

Breakfast and School-Related Outcomes in Children and Adolescents in the US: A Literature Review and its Implications for School Nutrition Policy

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To identify and review the latest research on the connections between breakfast and school-related outcomes in children and adolescents in the US, and to explore the implications of this research on US school nutrition policy, particularly as it applies to students experiencing or at risk for food insecurity.

RECENT FINDINGS

Although school personnel, parents, and students have positive attitudes about breakfast and its benefits for learning, recent research finds mixed evidence for the role of breakfast in improving objectively measured grades and test scores. Few recent studies examined behavioral outcomes, limiting the ability to draw clear conclusions about breakfast and school behavior. Several studies observed improved attendance with increased school breakfast access and participation, especially when schools offered breakfast at no cost to all students. There are many challenges to studying the connections between breakfast and learning. The recent research on breakfast and academic outcomes is mixed, but there is a growing body of evidence that eliminating fees for both school breakfast and lunch has promise for improving school-related outcomes.

European Countries Ranking and Clustering Solution by Children’s Physical Activity and Human Development Index Using Entropy-Based Methods

The aim of the present study is to propose a new approach for evaluating and comparing European countries using indicators of the children physical activity and the human development index. The Global Matrix 3.0 on physical activity for children and youth and human development index data on the 18 European countries were used. MADM (multi-attribute decision making) approach was applied for this task. The criteria weights calculated by applying the weight balancing method—weight balancing indicator ranks accordance (WEBIRA). New methodology of interval entropy is proposed for determining the priority of criteria separately in each group. The novel approach of α-cuts for recursive procedure of ranking the alternatives was used. For comparison, three alternative entropy-based methods—entropy method for determining the criterion weight (EMDCW), method of criteria impact LOSs and determination of objective weights (CILOS) and integrated determination of objective criteria weights (IDOCRIW) were applied to address this MADM problem. Cluster analysis of European countries carried out using results obtained by all above methods. Comparison of the MADM methods revealed that three alternative methods assigned negligible values to whole group of criteria. Meanwhile, WEBIRA family methods performed the ranking of European countries according to the interrelation of the two groups of criteria in a balanced way. Thus, when addressing MADM tasks with two or more naturally related sets of criteria, it is appropriate to apply criteria adapted for that purpose, such as WEBIRA.

Parent Engagement and Support, Physical Activity, and Academic Performance (PESPAAP): A Proposed Theoretical Model

An emerging area of research within public health is the interaction between parents and their children for the promotion of physical activity. Higher levels of daily physical activity may not only improve physical health but also yield better academic performance by improving cognitive skills, classroom behavior, and academic achievement within the pediatric population. However, no theoretical model has yet been proposed to interrelate constructs of parental engagement and support, physical activity, and academic performance within the pediatric population. Here, we: 1) summarize salient research related to pediatric physical activity and academic performance, parents' physical activity engagement with their children, and the role of parental support in child academic performance; 2) propose a theoretical model interrelating parent physical activity engagement and support, physical activity, and academic performance (PESPAAP); 3) identify features of the proposed model that support its potential merit; and 4) provide potential future research directions and potential analyses that can be undertaken to support, modify, or disprove the proposed theoretical model. The proposed PESPAAP model provides a logically sound model that can be modified or expanded upon to improve applicability and generalizability and can be used as a framework to help align testable hypotheses for studies examining these interrelationships.