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May 31, 2005Stress, mood and other factors may affect mom's diet during pregnancy
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Stress, anxiety, fatigue and other psychosocial characteristics may influence the food choices women make during pregnancy, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study is the...
American Indians and Alaska Native veterans have higher mortality rate after surgery than Caucasians
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Contributing to growing literature on marked racial and ethnic disparities in US healthcare, a study led by Dartmouth Medical School has concluded that American Indians and Alaska Natives have a greater chance of death within...
'Make Wal-Mart Care About Health Care' Campaign Launches Nationwide; Civic, Community Leaders Hold Press Conferences in 8 States, Demand Wal-Mart Provide Health Care for Workers, Stop Relying on Taxpayers
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Tomorrow, June 1, at 9 a.m., at the New Hampshire State House Steps, Main Street, civic and community leaders will hold a press conference at the state capital to launch a nationwide campaign to "Make Wal-Mart...
Study Finds Physician Supply Increases in States With Caps on Malpractice Lawsuit Awards, With the Greatest Impact in Rural Areas
From U.S. Newswire Releases: States that have capped malpractice lawsuit awards have seen a larger growth in the number of practicing physicians than those states without such caps, according to a new study from HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and...
Children in foster care may be underaccounted for in the Medicaid program
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: The currently accepted statistics for numbers of children who live in foster care and are eligible for Medicaid may seriously underestimate the actual figure, according to a new analysis by pediatric researchers at The Children's...
Planned Parenthood Is Told to Show Children's Files
From NYT > National: Planned Parenthood of Indiana has to show state investigators the medical records of some of its youngest patients, a judge ruled on Tuesday. Read more from this post....
Public Health Institute, W.K. Kellogg Foundation Develop New Program Evaluation Approach; Free Download Now Available
From Ascribe Newsfeed: Designed to help leadership programs focus on evaluation, "EvaluLEAD: A Guidebook for Shaping and Evaluating Leadership Development Programs" is now available at www.wkkf.org (under evaluation/publications and resources) or www.evalulead.net. Developed by the Population Leadership Program and the...
A Bane Amid The Housing Boom: Rising Foreclosures
From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.: PHILADELPHIA -- To walk Thayer Street in northeast Philadelphia is to count, door by door, the economic devastation afflicting a working-class neighborhood. On a single block, 18...
Teenage depression can be enduring, but is more often short-lived
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Teenage depression is widespread and can become a life-long illness, but is more often transitory, said UCLA Psychology Professor Constance Hammen. Adolescent depression can be as high as 20 percent or higher, said Hammen, who...
Message Is Clear in N.Va.: IM 'Threats' Can Bring Teens Trouble in an Instant (washingtonpost.com)
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: washingtonpost.com - The pranks teenagers play on each other are almost rites of passage -- making crank phone calls, scrawling scary messages on lockers and toilet-papering a friend's yard are usually seen as harmless adolescent...
May 27, 2005
Hunger-Free Communities Act of 2005
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Senator Richard Durbin (D- IL) introduced the Hunger-Free Communities Act of 2005 today to increase federal funding available to local organizations working to reduce hunger in communities nationwide and establishing an ambitious commitment to end hunger...
Witnessing gun violence increases likelihood that a child will also commit violent crime
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: In a study designed to isolate the root causes of violent behavior, Harvard Medical School researchers found that young teens who witnessed gun violence were more than twice as likely as non-witnesses to commit violent...
Pre-K students expelled at more than three times the rate of K-12 students
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Pre-K students are expelled at a rate more than three times that of children in grades K-12, according to a primary study by researchers at Yale on the rate of expulsion in prekindergarten programs serving...
The rising stakes of job loss
From Economic Policy Institute: In a sharp break from historical precedent, long-term joblessness has stubbornly persisted in this recovery, despite the falling unemployment rates. Read EPI's Briefing Paper, The Rising Stakes of Job Loss, for a full analysis. Read more...
May 26, 2005
School Law Spurs Efforts to End Minority Gap
From NYT > National: Educators across the nation are putting extraordinary effort into improving the achievement of minority students. Read more from this post....
Resistance training benefits older Hispanic adults with type 2 diabetes
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: While adults with diabetes are often told to lose weight to benefit their health, new information from researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University suggests that resistance...
Association between depression severity and poor glycemic control among Hispanics with diabetes
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: In a study of more than 200 Hispanics with diabetes, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and College of Physicians and Surgeons found a significant association between depression severity and poor glycemic...
Conference Call Briefing: New Study Finds Medicaid Beneficiaries Facing Rapidly Rising Out-Of-Pocket Health Care Costs
From U.S. Newswire Releases: WHAT: Conference Call Briefing: New Study Finds Medicaid Beneficiaries Facing Rapidly Rising Out-Of-Pocket Health Care Costs Read more from this post....
Research shows women's weight gain brings loss of income, job prestige
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: An increase in a woman's body mass results in a decrease in her family income and a decline in her occupational prestige, according to research conducted by New York University sociologist Dalton Conley and Rebecca...
Exposure to gun violence boosts odds of teens acting violently
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Exposure to gun violence makes adolescents twice as likely to perpetrate serious violence in the next two years, according to a University of Michigan researcher. Read more from this post....
New Directory on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs Nationwide
From: Mathematica Policy Research Clinicians, administrators, and policymakers in the substance abuse treatment field have a newly updated directory to help them in seeking treatment facilities for their clients. The publication, National Directory of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs...
Annual Conference on Criminal Justice Research & Evaluation
Annual Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation Join 1,000 of your professional colleagues at NIJ's Annual Conference on Research and Evaluation. This year's focus is Evidence-Based Policies and Practices. Learn what works, what doesn't, and what the latest research...
Retirement Income and Social Security
From Economic Policy Institute: "Retirement Income," EPI's major follow-up study to its 2002 report "Retirement Insecurity," argues that a truly accurate assessment of Americans' retirement adequacy must consider all forms of wealth, including private pensions, housing, and financial assets in...
Does a family dinner guarantee slimmer kids?
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: One trend that has paralleled the rise of obesity in the last two decades has been the decline in frequency of children eating dinner with their families. Elsie Taveras, instructor in the Department of Ambulatory...
Making Progress Toward Graduation
From MDRC: Talent Development, a high school reform initiative, produced substantial positive effects on attendance, academic course credits earned, tenth-grade promotion, and algebra pass rates for students in very low-performing schools in Philadelphia. Read more from this post....
Students Learn Meaning of Memorial Day; National History Day Helps Educate Students
From Ascribe Newsfeed: For many Americans, Memorial Day is a three-day beach weekend. However, students across America are finding out the true meaning of Memorial Day through National History Day (NHD). NHD is a year-long history education program culminating in...
Study shows even limited training improves communication with patients from other cultures
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Simple classroom lectures about different religious holidays, such as the Muslim tradition of fasting during Ramadan, or Spanish language lessons focused on common medical terms really work to help physicians and nurses connect with patients...
What types of physicians are best to treat patients with HIV?
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Physicians with expertise or a specialty in HIV deliver better quality of care to patients with active HIV, reports Bruce Landon, Harvard Medical School associate professor of health care policy, and colleagues in the May...
A 'mind-reading' mum - rich or poor - is key to baby's progress
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: For a mother, being able to 'read' her baby's emotions or state of mind can be more important for the child's development than who she is and what she has, according to important new research...
Children develop cynicism at an early age
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: By the time children are in second grade, they know to take what people say with a grain of salt, particularly when the statement supports the speaker's self-interest. The first part of the two-part study...
Decision to Cut Funding for North Carolina's Successful Youth Tobacco Prevention Ad Campaign is a Giant Step Backwards for the Health of North Carolina's Kids
From U.S. Newswire Releases: The following is a statement by Matthew L. Myers, president, Campaign for Tobacco- Free Kids, on the decision to cut funding for North Carolina's youth tobacco prevention ad campaign: The citizens of North Carolina should be...
Emory study finds health care use, work productivity linked to health levels
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: While most American adults may not be patently sick, a vast majority of them still lack full health and vitality. This state of "incomplete" health has resulted in a loss of productivity in the workforce,...
Facial trauma may cause significant social and behavioral problems
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Patients disfigured in traumatic incidents are much more likely to suffer post traumatic stress disorder, unemployment, marital problems, binge drinking and depression. Read more from this post....
May 25, 2005
International adoptees have fewer behavior problems than domestic adoptees
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Most international children who are adopted are well-adjusted and have fewer behavioral problems than children who are adopted domestically, according to an article in the May 25 issue of JAMA. Read more from this post....
UCLA study tackles aging issues of adults with developmental disabilities
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Some 4.5 million Americans have a developmental disability. As people live longer, adults with developmental disabilities are no exception, yet their conditions also bring aging-related challenges. A new study by UCLA and Casa Colina Centers...
May 24, 2005
Ebbing and Flowing: Some Gains, Some Losses as SCHIP Responds to Third Year of Budget Pressure
From The Urban Institute: State policymakers are using the flexibility built into Title XXI to manage their SCHIP programs through changing times, cutting or expanding as fiscal conditions permit. This conclusion is based on our third annual survey of SCHIP...
Medicare Basics, From (Part) A to D
From The Kaiser Family Foundation: This Alliance for Health Reform and Kaiser Family Foundation briefing aims to answer questions on the Medicare program. Who does Medicare serve and what services does it provide? How is the program financed? What is...
Taxes and Marriage for Cohabiting Parents
From The Urban Institute: Provisions in the federal income tax code that treat married couples as one tax unit and cohabiting couples as two tax units result in both marriage penalties and bonuses. This analysis uses data from the 2002...
Children living near major roads at higher asthma risk
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Children living close to a major road are significantly more likely to have asthma than children who live farther away, according to a study presented today at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May...
Breastfeeding as good for children's blood pressure as exercise and salt restriction
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Breastfeeding is as good for children's blood pressure as exercise and dietary salt restriction, finds a study in Archives of Disease in Childhood. And the longer the period of breastfeeding, the lower the blood pressure...
May 23, 2005
Medicare Will Revise Guide to New Benefits for 2006
From NYT > Health: The Bush administration is revising a preliminary draft of the 2006 Medicare handbook - the main tool for educating beneficiaries - after discovering that many statements in the document were inaccurate, misleading or unclear, even to...
Trumpeting vaccination may only entrench opposition
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Extolling the safety and benefits of childhood vaccinations may only serve to strengthen and entrench the positions of those philosophically opposed to them, says new research led by University of Toronto scientists. Read more from...
Eight aspects of early life put UK children at risk of obesity
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Three year old children who spend more than eight hours watching television per week are at an increased risk of obesity, finds a study published online by the BMJ this week. Read more from this...
Study depicts peril, hope for children of jailed mothers
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: For a young child whose mother is imprisoned, life's prospects are predictably grim. But a new study, the first empirical examination of the attachment relationships of young children whose mothers are in prison, suggests that...
Conn. Nears Strict School Junk Food Ban (AP)
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: AP - Lawmakers want to make sure Connecticut students aren't part of the Pepsi Generation. Connecticut is on the verge of adopting the most far-reaching ban in the country on soda and junk food in...
Mo. Foundation Invites Regional Tobacco Proposals
From Substance Abuse Funding News: The Missouri Foundation for Health is accepting proposals for its Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative. Read more from this post....
May 22, 2005
Celebrities Protest APA's Plan to Screen (test) All 52 Million School Children for Mental 'Disorders'
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Celebrities, civic and state leaders, parents and children take to the streets of Atlanta today in a march to protest the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) plans to screen all 52 Million US school children for "mental...
May 20, 2005
Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth
Chapin Hall: Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes at Age 19 - Executive Summary This is the second report from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth, a longitudinal study of...
AAAS urges US to continue collecting job data on women workers
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: The American Association for the Advancement of Science on Wednesday (18 May) urged the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to continue the collection of employer job counts of female workers, saying such data are crucial...
Mobilizing Communities for Children of All Abilities
From Ascribe Newsfeed: Playgrounds have become a commonplace feature of community life in America, but it is rare to find a playground that is barrier-free, built so children with and without disabilities can experience the learning and development play provides....
Those Who Outgrow Foster Care Still Struggle, Study Finds
From NYT > National: Nationally each year, some 20,000 youths who were once removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect leave their second home - the child welfare system - because they get too old for it. In...
Eight aspects of early life put children at risk of obesity
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Three year old children who spend more than eight hours watching television per week are at an increased risk of obesity, finds a study published online by the BMJ this week. Read more from this...
May 19, 2005
Teen Safe Driving Program Puts High School Student Leaders Behind the Wheel
From U.S. Newswire Releases: For teen drivers, summer can be a deadly time. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics show that more teens die in car crashes during the summer months (June-Sept.) than any other time of the year. And...
Managing maternal depression during pregnancy presents significant challenge to clinicians
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Women who take antidepressants during the final trimester of pregnancy increase the risk of "neonatal behavioral syndrome," a constellation of symptoms and behaviors related to drug withdrawal or side effects, University of Pittsburgh researchers conclude...
Summit to Explore Strategies for Economic, Social Inclusion for Low-Income, Working Families in America
From Ascribe Newsfeed: Over 1,000 people from across America have registered to attend the Advancing Regional Equity: The Second National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, in Philadelphia, May 23-25. "The people...
'NCLB - Let's Get It Right'; Union Announces National Campaign to Educate Public and Elected Leaders on Improving the NCLB Law
From U.S. Newswire Releases: The American Federation of Teachers today announced the launch of a national education and advocacy campaign aimed at improving the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal education law. The campaign includes extensive radio and print advertising...
Boosting Income and Contribution Limits For Pension Savings Would Swell Deficits, Do Little For Middle-Class Families
From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas has suggested that new tax cuts to promote retirement savings should be considered as part of the effort to reform Social Security. Chairman Thomas has expressed interest...
May 18, 2005
Preserving the Strengths of the Housing Choice Voucher Program
From The Urban Institute: The Housing Choice Voucher program plays a critical role in our nation's housing policy. One of its greatest strengths is that it allows families to choose the type of housing and neighborhood that best meets their...
Two Fronts in the War on Poverty (washingtonpost.com)
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: washingtonpost.com - BALTIMORE -- Jacquelyn D. Cornish keeps several postcards on her desk at the Druid Heights Community Development Corp., which has marshaled millions in government money in a decades-long effort to renovate houses and...
Research shows upbringing affects discipline choices
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Parent's upbringing plays a large role in how they decide to discipline their own children, according to new research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Results from a survey of 2,100 parents nationwide were...
Judges think children more honest but less reliable than adults, says Queen's study
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Judges perceive child witnesses as being more honest than adults when testifying in court, but recognize that children's limited memory and communication skills, and greater suggestibility may make them less reliable than adults. Read more...
Boys, too, suffer long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Children of both genders are frequently victims of sexual abuse, and the long-term consequences are nearly identical in men and women, according to a broad-based new report in the June 2005 issue of American Journal...
New Government Report Backs CDF in Questioning Reliability and Validity of NRS Test Given to Children in Head Start
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Today the Government Accountability Office confirmed what the Children's Defense Fund and other early childhood experts have maintained for the past two years, that the National Reporting System is not a reliable or valid method to...
HUD Inspector General Confirms Breakdown in Lead Safety and Healthy Homes Grants Process
From Ascribe Newsfeed: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued an interim audit report on May 16, 2005, detailing problems with the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control' s...
Over-feeding in infancy might set the stage for childhood obesity
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: The way obese women feed and interact with their children early in infancy might lay the foundations for obesity later in childhood. A small pilot study published this month in Nutrition Journal found that obese...
Policy Brief: All Together Now: State Experiences in Using Community-Based Child Care to Provide Pre-Kindergarten
From Center for Law and Social Policy: by Rachel Schumacher, Danielle Ewen, Katherine Hart, and Joan Lombardi. This brief is based on the 61-page report of the same name, which was commissioned by the Brookings Institution. It studies the emergence...
Unemployment rate and long-term unemployment continue to diverge
From Economic Policy Institute: The unemployment rate and long-term unemployment (i.e., the share of those unemployed for more than six months) have historically run parallel courses. But in this recovery, the relatively low unemployment rate hasn't been matched by declines...
May 17, 2005
SEDAPA Awards for Drug Abuse Awareness
From Substance Abuse Funding News: The Science and Education Drug Abuse Partnership Awards encourage alliances to develop model programs for raising awareness and generating interest in the science and biology of drug-abuse addiction. Read more from this post....
New Jobs in Recession and Recovery: Who Are Getting Them and Who Are Not?
From The Urban Institute: Recent employment gains by immigrants did not lead to declines among native-born Americans, visiting fellow Harry Holzer pointed out in testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims. Over the long term,...
Research Finds a High Rate of Expulsions in Preschool
From NYT > National: Typical 3-year-olds just out of diapers are plenty old enough to be expelled, the first national study of expulsion rates in prekindergarten programs has found. Read more from this post....
Popular Teens Show Healthy Personality Traits, But Are Vulnerable to Negative Peer Pressure
From Ascribe Newsfeed: Being a popular teenager can be a risky business. On one hand, they have a lot of friends. On the other hand, they're particularly vulnerable to their friends leading them astray. That was one of several conclusions...
Gates Foundation Adds $250 Million to Health Program
From NYT > Health: The new money brings to $450 million the amount that Bill Gates has committed to his "Grand Challenges in Global Health" program, an effort to find solutions to health problems. Read more from this post....
ACLU Sues HHS Over Abstinence Aid
From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.: The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit yesterday against the Department of Health and Human Services, accusing the Bush administration of spending federal tax dollars on an...
Minority youths self-esteem grows, not shrinks over time
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A new study published in the latest issue of the Journal of Research on Adolescence focused on Black, Latino, and Asian American students from lower and working class families at a public high school in...
Children's peer group influences ethnic/racial prejudice
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Children's tendency to show ethnic/racial prejudice is greater when their friends exclude individuals on the basis of race and when their peer groups feel threatened by outsiders. This research, which explored the attitudes, beliefs and...
The dark side of adolescent popularity
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: For teenagers, popularity itself has a downside. A recent study that followed 185 eighth graders for a year observed that over time, popular adolescents showed greater increases in levels of delinquency and drug use. In...
New research finds children understand the emotional benefits of following the rules
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: In this study, children between the ages of 4 and 7 increasingly predicted feeling negative or mixed emotions when they break a rule, and feeling positive or mixed emotions when they follow a rule. Children...
Teen's ability to multi-task develops late in adolescence
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: New research shows that the part of the brain responsible for multi-tasking continues to develop until late adolescence. Using behavioral tests, children ages 9 to 20 were assessed in terms of functioning of the frontal...
Children of incarcerated mothers exhibit poor attachment to caregivers, mothers
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: This is the first study to empirically demonstrate that children of incarcerated mothers generally have insecure relationships with their mothers and caregivers. Of the 54 children studied whose mothers were in prison, 63 percent had...
Maladapted children change goals during conflicts
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: New research on how children's goals change when in conflict showed that aggressive and submissive children who had problems with their peers exhibited several antisocial changes to their goals. These children showed an increased desire...
Childhood Cancer Survivors Face Risks
From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.: Two-thirds of children who are cured of cancer in childhood end up with at least one long-term health problem arising from their treatment. One-third have severe complications...
May 16, 2005
Gates Foundation Puts $2.3B Into Education
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: AP - Bill Gates raised some hackles with his withering assessment of American high schools, but at least the billionaire founder of Microsoft is putting his money where his mouth is. The Bill and Melinda...
Type 2 diabetes may begin with Grandma's diet
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: An innovative study published online in The Journal of Physiology in Press provides the first evidence that the insulin resistance typical of type 2 diabetes can be "programmed" across two generations by poor nutrition during...
The effects of prenatal cocaine exposure
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Cocaine abuse is becoming increasingly prevalent among women of childbearing age, and is associated with numerous adverse perinatal outcomes. New research, published in The Journal of Physiology, by Professor Lubo Zhang and his research team...
Investigating the appropriateness of current alcohol-use disorder criteria for adolescents
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: The same alcohol-use disorder criteria are currently used for both adults and adolescents, despite concerns about the appropriateness of these criteria for adolescents. New findings suggest that "tolerance" and "time spent" using/obtaining/recovering from alcohol may...
Integrated chemical-dependency and mental-health treatment best for adolescents
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Adolescents with alcohol- and drug-use disorders often have co-occurring mental-health disorders. "Dual-diagnosis" patients - those with co-occurring substance-abuse and mental-health problems - tend to have less successful chemical-dependency (CD) treatment outcomes. Findings indicate that dual-diagnosis...
Majority of parents don't actively limit children's media time
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Parents' active involvement in what their children are exposed to in the media can reduce negative effects associated with that exposure. However, according to new research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, the majority...
May 13, 2005
Cuts to Community Development
National Priorities Project: The President's budget request for fiscal year 2006 proposes eliminating 18 different community and economic development programs and replacing them with one program called the 'Strengthening America's Communities Grant Program.' Under this proposal, funding for community and...
Alternatives to Strengthen Social Security: Testimony of C. Eugene Steuerle before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means
From The Urban Institute: Since Social Security was first enacted, vast changes have occurred in the economic and social circumstances of the nation. In testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, senior fellow Eugene Steuerle addresses Social...
Remaking Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century: What Role for High School Programs?
Remaking Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century: What Role for High School Programs? Basic questions about career and technical education are on the table as part of the policy debate on how to reform K-12 education, particularly high...
Top Health Groups Organize First National Conference on Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Among American Indians and Alaska Natives
From Ascribe Newsfeed: A coalition of leading health organizations today announced the first national conference to address cardiovascular disease and diabetes within the American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. The AI/AN conference will focus on increasing the knowledge of...
Barriers prevent many Hispanics from participating in research studies
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Researchers found that many Hispanic people would be more willing to participate if the researcher spoke Spanish, if they felt like the process would have a health benefit to them, if the research had a...
Early origins of obesity: Programming the appetite regulatory system
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: An article in The Journal of Physiology presents important research showing that events before birth can permanently change patterns of appetite and fat deposition in child and adult life. Read more from this post....
Black Children More Likely to Die From Traumatic Injury Than White Children
From Ascribe Newsfeed: A new study of nearly 6,000 children suggests that black youth are more than twice as likely to die from a traumatic injury as are white children. "Trauma has a far greater impact on minority children than...
NCADD: Tell Abercrombie and Fitch What You Think of Pro-Drinking T-Shirts for Teens
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: NCADD is looking for ideas on how to best address a new line of Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts that promote underage binge drinking without creating the publicity bonanza the retailer craves. Read more from...
May 12, 2005
Racketeering Judge Asked to Set Youth Smoking Goals, Penalties
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: The tobacco industry should be accountable for reductions in youth smoking as part of any judgment in the government's racketeering case against Big Tobacco, Bush administration lawyers told the judge in the case. Read...
'Bawdy House' Law Used Against Drug Landlords
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: Officials in Buffalo, N.Y., are using an old law to pressure landlords to evict tenants caught dealing drugs. Read more from this post....
May 11, 2005
University of Florida Researcher: Black Students With Exotic Names Face School Barriers
From Ascribe Newsfeed: What's in a name? Quite a lot for black students with exotic names who do not make the grade in school and are often overlooked by gifted programs, a new University of Florida study finds. Da'Quan or...
School Overcrowding in California: Report by PolicyLink and Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund Finds State Underestimates Crisis; Funding Overhaul Needed
From Ascribe Newsfeed: A new report released by PolicyLink and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) finds that overcrowding in California schools is far greater than estimated. According to the report, "Ending School Overcrowding in California: Building...
Study: Americans willing to pay more for greater vaccine coverage
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A new national web-based study from the University of Michigan Health System found that about 80 percent of adults would be willing to pay an additional $3 to $6 each month in health plan premiums...
Speaker Hastert Joins Shadegg to Introduce Health Care Choice Act; Bill Will Lower Health Insurance Costs, Reduce Number of Uninsured
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) will join House Republican Policy Chairman John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Jim DeMint, (R-S.C.) tomorrow at a press conference to support Shadegg's Health Care Choice Act. Read more from...
New Panel Will Study Medicaid With Eyes Toward Big Changes
From NYT > National: The Bush administration will create an advisory panel to recommend big changes in Medicaid eligibility and benefits and in the financing of the program. Read more from this post....
Federal Intervention: The Answer to School Finance Litigation, Says Rep. Chaka Fattah
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Lawsuits challenging state methods of funding public schools have been brought in 45 of the 50 states. Courts across the nation have ruled that poor and at-risk children are being deprived of a quality education. Today,...
Children's Defense Fund: House-Passed 'Gangs' Bill Will Increase Youth Violence
From U.S. Newswire Releases: The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) expresses deep dismay as the U.S. House of Representatives today passed H.R. 1279, a regressive and draconian "gangs bill." The bill has met a chorus of opposition from experts, lawmakers and...
Characteristics of the Uninsured: A View from the States
Characteristics of the Uninsured: A View from the States has been published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This report is a snapshot of the uninsured in the U.S. The report documents rates of people without health insurance across states...
Strategy to Increase Postsecondary Success for Underrepresented Students
Add and Subtract: Dual Enrollment as a State Strategy to Increase Postsecondary Success for Underrepresented Students This policy primer for states provides an overview of dual enrollment and a rationale for its expansion and guidelines (including funding models) for states...
Uptick in jobs not reaching young college graduates
From Economic Policy Institute: Although payrolls increased by 274,000 jobs in April, the labor market remains tough for today's young college graduates. It has been 20 years since young college graduates have experienced employment rates as low as those in...
New White House Document Shows Many Low-Income Beneficiaries Would Face Social Security Benefit Cuts Under President's Plan
From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: The President’s Social Security proposals have been widely reported as protecting benefits for the bottom 30 percent of the population, people earning less than $20,000 today. A document that the White House gave...
U.S. Provides Rules to States for Testing Special Pupils
From NYT > National: Some state education officials and advocates for special-education students quickly criticized the requirements as too stringent. Read more from this post....
New HHS Guide Helps Nurses Encourage Patients to Quit Smoking
From U.S. Newswire Releases: In recognition of National Nurses Week, May 6 - 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today is releasing a new tool that will give nurses evidence-based information that they can use to help...
Lag-time often occurs before new treatments for pediatric HIV infection are used
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: There often is a short lag between the release of a new treatment for pediatric HIV infection and its implementation in the community, according to a study in the May 11 issue of JAMA. Read...
Earlier treatment of perinatal HIV associated with decreased HIV progression, better outcomes
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: In a study in the May 11 JAMA, earlier treatment of children with HIV infection with ART is associated with less HIV progression and improved survival rates. Read more from this post....
Children with high blood lead levels often do not receive follow-up tests
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Only about half of children who had an abnormal blood lead level screening had follow-up blood testing, according to an article in the May 11 issue of JAMA. Read more from this post....
Kids at risk for lead poisoning don't get necessary testing
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: In the first population-based study of its kind, researchers from the University of Michigan Health System's Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit found that only 53.9 percent of children in Medicaid with elevated blood lead...
Asymptomatic HIV-infected newborns may benefit from early drug treatment, Stanford study shows
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Identifying and treating HIV-infected newborns is a race against the clock, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Researchers found that HIV-infected infants treated with one...
Should the mental health evaluator decide child custody?
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: It's a controversial debate, with some arguing that the lack of empirical data in mental health evaluations should be evidence enough to keep them from influencing custody disputes. Read more from this post....
Purdue study finds races react differently to dietary salt, calcium
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: African-American and Caucasian adolescent girls handle sodium and calcium differently, which may help explain why the races have different rates of hypertension and osteoporosis, according to research at Purdue University. Nutrition researchers discovered Caucasian girls...
Type 2 diabetes is increasing among children all over the world
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A review article in the May issue of The Journal of Pediatrics reports that the rate of type 2 diabetes among children worldwide appears to have increased significantly over the last 15 years. Read more...
Soft drinks consumption may increase the risk of childhood obesity
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Excessive consumption of sugar sweetened drinks may be a key factor in the rise of childhood obesity. A commentary in the May issue of The Journal of Pediatrics reviews research to provide perspective about the...
May 10, 2005
Indian Health Care in the 21st Century: A Case Study in Disparities
From The Kaiser Family Foundation: The Kaiser Family Foundation, in conjunction with the Morris K. Udall Foundation and the American Public Health Association hosted an event on May 9, 2005 which focused on key Indian health issues, including the availability...
Admissions for Drug Treatment Up for Older Adults
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: A new study released by SAMHSA finds that admissions for substance abuse treatment increased by 32 percent among older adults over the eight-year period from 1995-2002. Read more from this post....
Administration Housing Proposal Lays Groundwork For Planned Funding Reductions
From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: An Administration proposal, recently introduced in Congress as the "State and Local Housing Flexibility Act," would make fundamental changes to two of the nation's primary low-income housing assistance programs - the housing choice...
Marijuana withdrawal reported by teens seeking treatment
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: By 12th grade, about 21 percent of high school students regularly use marijuana. A new study in today's edition of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence shows that teens that use marijuana frequently also may...
N.Y. Schools Chief Aims to Revive a 'Failing' System
From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.: NEW YORK -- As the Clinton administration's top antitrust lawyer, Joel I. Klein never shied away from outsize challenges. For nearly three years now, the man who...
Consumer Reports Rates Diets for Nutrition, Effectiveness; CR Helps Readers Choose a Weight-Loss Program That Makes Sense for Them
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May 09, 2005
Older adults with diabetes in managed care networks have higher rates of untreated eye disease
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Medicare beneficiaries at high risk for eye disease due to diabetes are more likely to have unrecognized and untreated eye disease if they are enrolled in managed care than if they have fee-for-service (FFS) health...
New NSF-AAAS report highlights 'learning communities,' other STEM educational strategies
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: The learning-community approach is one of many innovative "inquiry-based" strategies outlined in a new report from the National Science Foundation and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), "Invention and Impact: Building Excellence...
Several years in small classes in elementary school yields big rewards at graduation time
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A new study involving a large sample of students followed for 13 years shows that four or more years in small classes in elementary school significantly increases the likelihood of graduating from high school, especially...
Obese workers' pay lower due to health costs, Stanford study finds
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Studies have consistently shown that obese employees are paid less than normal-weight employees doing similar jobs, leading many people to attribute the gap to prejudice against workers based on their appearance. Research from Stanford University...
Children at risk, says Illinois agricultural economist who helped assess the world's ecosystem
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A University of Illinois agricultural economist who played a role in shaping a recent assessment of the world's ecosystem and its future believes the study indicates "our children are at risk." Read more from this...
Parental conflict can affect school performance
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Children's experiences at home can have a direct impact on their performance at school, research at Cardiff University, UK has found. Recent findings from the South Wales Family Study suggest that the quality of relations...
Girl juvenile offenders exhibit more problems, risks than boys
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Girls in the juvenile justice system exhibit more risks than do boys for problem behaviors that may lead them to serious trouble, according to new research. Girls had more problems than boys in areas such...
Preserving "Choice" in the Housing Choice Voucher Program
From The Urban Institute: The authors review the policy implications of "The State and Local Housing Flexibility Act of 2005," which was recently introduced in the Senate and House. Drawing on Urban Institute research, they discuss significant limitations on housing...
States Propose Sweeping Changes to Trim Medicaid by Billions
From NYT > National: The plans provide guidance to Congress, which endorsed a budget blueprint that would cut projected Medicaid spending by $10 billion over the next five years. Read more from this post....
States and Employers Duel Over Health Care
From NYT > Health: Nearly two dozen states are looking to shift more of the financial burden of health care costs onto workers' employers. Read more from this post....
May 06, 2005
Storytelling Project Aims to Help New York City High School Students Deal With Racial Issues
From Ascribe Newsfeed: An innovative program to help high school students understand and deal effectively with racial issues through stories and storytelling, has received a second grant of $100,000 in support from the Third Millennium Foundation. The Storytelling Project, developed...
A New Deal for Health? A Proposal for Universal Coverage From The Century Foundation's Health Care Fellow
From Ascribe Newsfeed: Your access to health care in the United States, and the quality of care you receive, has long depended on where you work. However, medical costs for employers - up 59 percent since 2000 - are leading...
Increasing Lack of Insurance Threatens Public Health: A University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Health Tip
From Ascribe Newsfeed: Infectious diseases and other epidemics spread faster among people who lack adequate health care access, says Robert Field, PhD, director of the health policy program and associate professor of health policy at University of the Sciences in...
Medication combined with behavior therapy works best for ADHD children, study finds
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A new study of treatments for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has found that combining behavior modification therapy with medication is the most effective way to improve the behavior of many ADHD children....
More effort needed to prevent pattern of child abuse
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Children who have been abused are at risk of recurrence and effective prevention strategies are urgently needed, say the authors of a randomized trial published online today by The Lancet. Recurrence of child maltreatment is...
Foster Kids: From Their Mouths to Your Ears; Youth to Discuss Concerns, Challenges and Aspirations - and Answer Questions - in Online Chat
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House Republicans Introduce Bill to Reform and Renew Head Start
From U.S. Newswire Releases: U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee leaders today introduced legislation that would introduce greater competition into the federal Head Start early childhood program and use it to strengthen school readiness, increase the role of states...
Campaign for Mental Health Reform Hosts Hill Briefings on Children's Mental Disorders
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Navigating the rhetoric around children's mental health has become almost impossible in today's climate. From misrepresentation of research to distortions of policy proposals, the truth about children's mental health is not always easy to find. The...
May 05, 2005
Finding the Right Hook: Strategies for Attracting and Sustaining Participation in After-School Programs
Based on more than 60 recent evaluations of out-of-school programs, the Harvard Family Research Project has identified recruitment and retention strategies especially relevant to school leaders. The authors, both affiliated with the project, point to strategies for attracting and...
U.S. Poverty Basics
Poverty USA This interactive website is a primer on poverty in the United States. The website includes state, city, and county top ten lists for poverty, child poverty and low income uninsured children; multimedia galleries; interactive maps; quizzes; and an...
Deep Cuts in Services to Women and their Families and More Tax Cuts for the Wealthy in Final FY 2006 Budget
National Women's Law Center Last week, the House and Senate narrowly passed a $2.6 trillion budget that includes a $23 billion spending cut in discretionary programs in fiscal year 2006, and another $34.7 billion cut over the next five years...
New and Updated Medicare Fact Sheets
From The Kaiser Family Foundation: The Foundation has issued four new and updated fact sheets highlighting key facts and the latest statistics about the Medicare program. These fact sheets -- Medicare At A Glance, The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Medicare...
Updated Directory of Drug, Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs Available
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: SAMHSA's updated guide to finding local addiction treatment programs is now available. Read more from this post....
Report Shows Concentration of Bars, Liquor Stores Linked to Neighborhood Violence
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: When bars, liquor stores and other businesses that sell alcohol are located close together in neighborhoods, more assaults and other violent crimes occur in those neighborhoods. Read more from this post....
Pediatricians Urged to Address Addiction, Other Problems
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: Community problems as well as individual health needs must be recognized and addressed by pediatricians in order to combat problems like alcohol and other drug abuse, poor nutrition, and violence. Read more from this...
May 04, 2005
House Passes Vocational and Technical Education Jobs Training Bill
From U.S. Newswire Releases: The House of Representatives today passed H.R. 366, The Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act, by a vote of 416-9. H.R. 366 strengthens and improves the framework of current vocational and technical education programs...
LA City Council Approves Prescription Drug Bulk Purchasing to Become First City in Nation with Such Pool
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Today the LA City Council took a significant step to initiate the nation's first city-based prescription drug bulk purchasing program. The program, "LA Rx," would be available for any individual regardless of age, income, or insurance...
Researchers Tested Drugs on Foster Kids (AP)
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: AP - Government-funded researchers tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of foster children over the past two decades, often without providing them a basic protection afforded in federal law and required by some states, an Associated...
Newly Proposed Housing Legislation Would Leave Public Housing Agencies Vulnerable To Substantial Funding Cuts and Shifting HUD Mandates
From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: The State and Local Housing Flexibility Act of 2005, proposed by HUD and introduced in Congress in April, would make sweeping changes in federal housing policy. Among other things, the proposed legislation would...
How Have Households with Children Fared in the Job Market Downturn?
From The Urban Institute: During and following 2001's recession families with children experienced a significant decline in employment rates and income. These reductions in full-time employment and income increased the incidence of poverty in homes with children, especially those headed...
Obesity surges among affluent (USATODAY.com)
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: USATODAY.com - Obesity, a condition that for decades has been more prevalent in the poor, is skyrocketing among affluent Americans, a new study finds. Defined as 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight, obesity...
Babies show ripple effects of mothers stress from 9/11 trauma
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Pregnant women present during the September 11 World Trade Center collapse have passed on markers of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to their unborn babies through transgenerational transmission. The findings strengthen the evidence for in...
Uninsured Americans with Chronic Health Conditions: Key Findings from the National Health Interview Survey
From The Urban Institute: This study examines how uninsured adults with chronic health problems are faring in terms of several measures that may indicate that access to care is compromised. The analysis is based on the 2003 National Health Interview...
May 03, 2005
Nation's Leading Child and Family Policy Analysts Emphasize "Catch 22" in Current System of Supports
From: National Center for Children in Poverty Nearly 15 million children in this country have a parent who works full time yet can’t afford basic daily necessities. This troubling reality should be a top concern as the Senate and House...
Therapy to Overcome Fears Helps Children With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
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A blind spot in Colo. license law (USATODAY.com)
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: USATODAY.com - A Colorado teenager can't practice driving because her mom is blind. Julianna Barber, 15, and her mother Marcia, of Colorado Springs, sued in federal court Monday after the attorney general's office said the...
Maternal Drinking May Trigger Sleeping Problems in Kids
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: Animal studies suggest that binge drinking during pregnancy can disrupt fetal circadian rhythms, which govern the body's natural clock. Read more from this post....
Tools for diagnosing heart attack could be inaccurate in some populations
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A computerized tool to help emergency room physicians determine whether a patient is having a heart attack may not work as well among some racial and ethnic groups, according to research of almost 12,000 patients...
OHSU research shows vitamin C counteracts some negative impacts of smoking on unborn babies
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Research conducted in monkeys at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, suggests high doses of vitamin C may have potential to counteract some negative impacts of smoking in unborn babies....
Responses: Meet, Mingle and Stay Healthy
From NYT > Health: A recent study reported that lonely and socially isolated students had weaker immune responses to flu shots than their more outgoing peers. Read more from this post....
Obesity spreading out to all income levels
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Once considered primarily a problem of the poor, obesity is growing fastest in among those making more than $60,000 a year. Read more from this post....
NIEER: Massive National Study Finds Many PreKindergarten Teachers Underpaid; Others Lacking Required Credentials
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Seven out of ten teachers in state-funded prekindergarten programs earn salaries in the low-income category and one in six works a second job to make ends meet, according to a just-released report from the National Prekindergarten...
Parents who don't vaccinate their children may believe vaccines cause harm
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Concern that vaccines might cause harm was the most common reason given by parents who choose not to have their children vaccinated for preventable diseases, according to an article in the May issue of Archives...
Response of New York City public school children to September 11
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Six months after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, a high proportion of New York City school children had one or more probable anxiety/depressive disorders, according to an article in the...
Grandparent at home buffers single-parenthood
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Having a grandparent in the home appears to buffer some of the potential negative effects on children of living in a single-parent home, according to a new study by Rachel Dunifon, assistant professor of policy...
39 Teen Parents Graduate from Intensive 5-Year Program Aimed at Preventing Child Abuse, Neglect
From U.S. Newswire Releases: For many years, Metropolitan Family Services has been helping low-income and teen parents-the two groups most at-risk for child abuse or neglect-raise healthy happy babies. Today, Monday, May 2, Metropolitan Family Services will honor 39 of...
May 02, 2005
Fla. Sets Harsher Penalties for Molesters (AP)
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: AP - Spurred by the killing of a 9-year-old girl, Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday signed a law imposing tougher penalties on child molesters and requiring many of those released from prison to wear satellite...
Prenatal cocaine exposure exerts subtle effects on schoolchildren
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Children exposed to cocaine before birth show subtle but discernible differences in their ability to plan and problem-solve once they reach school age, University of Florida researchers report. Still, most fare far better in the...
Website Encourages Hiring of Recovering Addicts and Ex-offenders
From Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco News: The founder of a Houston manufacturing company has created a Website to help small business owners hire ex-offenders and those in recovery from substance abuse. Read more from this post....
Bush: Rein in Social Security (USATODAY.com)
From Yahoo! News: Top Stories: USATODAY.com - President Bush endorsed for the first time Thursday a Social Security plan that would slow future increases in benefits for middle- and upper-income workers. Read more from this post....
NIDA Grants for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Research
From Substance Abuse Funding News: The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism have combined to offer research grants for its Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Substance and Alcohol-Related Disorders program. Read more...
DOJ Awards $32.6 Million for Prisoner Drug Treatment
From Substance Abuse Funding News: The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs has awarded $32.6 million nationwide for alcohol and other drug abuse treatment services for inmates through its Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program. Read more from this post....
Substance Abuse Policy Research Program Grants
From Substance Abuse Funding News: Up to $3.5 million in funding is available for round 10 of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Substance Abuse Policy Research Program. Read more from this post....
Contrary To Claims By Its Supporters, The Congressional Budget Plan Increases The Deficit
From: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Proponents of the conference report on the Congressional budget resolution recently adopted by the House and Senate have claimed that the resolution reduces the deficit over the next five years. They have...
NACHC Statement on Congressional Passage of Fiscal 2006 Budget Resolution
From U.S. Newswire Releases: Following is a statement by Daniel Hawkins, National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) vice president for federal, state, and public affairs, on Congressional passage the of Fiscal 2006 Budget Resolution: "The budget approved by Congress...
For Catholic Laity, a Spirit of Change
From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.: The influence and activism of the laity is becoming a defining feature of the U.S. Catholic Church, with parishes such as Holy Family in Inverness, IL drawing...
Exclusive breastfeeding reduces risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Zimbabwe and Harare (Zimbabwe) City Health Department found that exclusive breastfeeding substantially reduces the transmission of HIV from mother to infant...
After 2 Cases in Florida, Crackdown on Molesters
From NYT > National: Dozens of states and localities are re-examining their policies and deciding that federal mandates, approved after highly publicized sex crimes against children in the 1990's, are not enough. Read more from this post....