Study: Researchers Find Links Between Eating Disorders & Bullying


bullying eating disorders

Can bullying affect children's weight, health, and future? Duke Medicine researchers recently reported from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine (UNC), that students who bullied their peers were twice as likely to display symptoms of bulimia, such as bingeing and purging. Findings from a database with more than two decades of health information on participants enrolled at age 9 reported that children who were victims of bullying were generally at risk for eating disorders, but reports also showed that children that were the bullies also had the highest prevalence of anorexia symptoms (22.8% vs. 5.6 % of those not involved in bullying.) Kids who are overweight may also be at a higher risk for being bullied or being the child who feels insecure and bullies other ...

Read More

#SaludTues Tweetchat 1p ET 11/17/15: Diabetes


diabetes

Diabetes is one of the major illnesses that impacts all people, including Latinos. Yet it is also one of the more preventable and treatable illnesses. Do you know how important a healthy diet and exercise are to preventing or controlling diabetes? What's the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes? How often should you check your glucose levels? Let’s use #SaludTues on Nov. 17, 2015, to tweet about all the need-to-know facts about diabetes. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Diabetes” TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludAmerica CO-HOSTS: USA.gov (@USAgov); Diabetes Hands Foundation (@diabetesHF); U.S. FDA (@FDAenEspanol) Together with our partners, we’ll discuss: Key ...

Read More

Teen Sisters Help Kids Conquer Obesity in Corpus Christi, Texas



How can one family have an impact on reducing obesity in their school and beyond? Just look at the Surani teen sisters of Corpus Christi, Texas. After learning that their city had been named the fattest in the nation and how obesity is a huge health threat among children, the three girls wanted to take action They, with the help of their parents and others, created several programs to improve children’s health, including the iConquer program to help kids beat obesity by achieving healthy lifestyles starting from the early ages of 3 to 6 years old. Teen Sisters Aim for Better Health Fifteen-year-old Zoya Surani, along with sisters Sara (19) and Saherish (16), grew up in a household where healthy choices were commonplace. Their father, a pulmonologist, and mother, a respiratory ...

Read More

Middle Schoolers Develop Health Education Program for Elementary Students



In 2010, Corpus Christi, Texas, was labeled the “fattest city in the nation” by Men’s Health magazine. A group of local middle school students were not happy about this designation and wanted to do something about it. After speaking to friends and teachers, the students reached out to influential community members to develop interest and support for a health program for elementary students called “Mission FitPossible.” Three years later, the students were high school students and they would wake up an hour early to bring Mission FitPossible to nearby elementary students. Next Generation to Inherit Fattest City in Texas Corpus Christi, Texas (59.7% Latino), was labeled the “fattest city in the nation” in 2010. Sarita Damaraju and Doug Hagemeister, who were ...

Read More

PE Teachers Bring 60 Minutes of Daily Activity to Students Before or After School



Many students don’t meet daily recommendations of physical activity. They often lack access to quality activity opportunities during school and they are burdened by challenges for quality activity opportunities after school, such as safety, availability and cost. Kids that don’t meet daily recommendations of physical activity are at increased risk for obesity and other adverse health outcomes. Jennifer Hershey and Jennifer McCloughan, two PE teachers in Edmonds School District in Washington, developed a before/after school program as well as a recess program to help kids reach 60 minutes of recommended daily activity on most days of the week. They developed these programs to be implemented in schools to reduce challenges associated with safety, availability, and cost. PE ...

Read More

Innovative Health Education for Kids, by Kids in Schools


Health Education in Schools

In a Florida school district that didn’t provide health classes in high schools, a health educator, Risa Berrin, and her sister, Valerie Berrin, worked together to raise the bar on health education with their Health Information Project (HIP). HIP is a peer-to-peer program that allows students to teach each other about health problems, prevention, and how to access to local health resources toward reducing obesity and other issues. The Need for Health Education in Schools Awareness: Risa Berrin was a health reporter for her college newspaper when she first started seeing how teens were unaware or misinformed about health and prevention. She became part of the solution, starting a career as a certified human growth and reproductive health educator. While teaching law classes at ...

Read More

Resilience: It’s Not About Grit, It’s About Relationships



Resilience is the key to overcoming adverse childhood experiences. Often, public programs and policies demand an element of individual motivation and grit in order to overcome adverse experiences, which sends the message that disadvantaged kids are to blame if they don’t. As a motivational anecdote, the concept of grit can be encouraging; however, early childhood development research suggests that overcoming adverse experiences requires relationships, not grit. A recent report from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, “which seeks to unite the science of early childhood development with the policies we devise to support" children, explores policy implications of supporting relationships to build resilience. To learn more about public policy and ...

Read More

Children & Green Spaces: Studies Show Increase In Memory, Attention


green spaces

Studies from all over are funneling down on the facts about how nature and the great outdoors prove to help the learning environment for kids and adults alike. A recent study from US National Library of Health, reveals a link between the "greenness" of green spaces and school performance. Another study in 2015 from University of British Columbia, shows that rough play, usually in outdoor settings, increase a child's health socially and physically. These studies are finding the benefits of nature and being outdoors are helpful for: Cognitive Development Memory Function Critical Reasoning Diversified Learning Physical health To read more on this check out the full ...

Read More

El Paso Students ‘Get Hip’ with Health and Wellness



In El Paso, Texas, kids are priority No. 1 thanks to a community-school partnership that prioritizes physical activity and health for children. The El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) created and its Get HIP Now program to provide elementary- and middle-school students with integrated school health programming, alongside before- and after-school physical activity. Physical Inactivity in Schools Awareness: As early as 2005, leaders at the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), an 83% Latino school district in El Paso, Texas, were becoming aware of student obesity issues. It seemed obvious that students could benefit from improvements to physical activity programing, according to John Adams, a P.E. instructor at the time who would eventually become the EPISD ...

Read More