Development of the Health and Weight Attitudes Scale.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate an instrument to assess attitudes toward Health at Every Size (HAES) principles. METHODS: Survey items were generated based on 5 HAES principles. A panel of reviewers was recruited to establish content validity. A convenience sample of college students in health education was recruited for pilot survey administration. Internal reliability was assessed using Cronbach α and test-retest reliability was assessed with Pearson correlation. RESULTS: Three panelists reviewed the instrument and provided feedback for revision. Cronbach α for the final instrument was .75 (n = 43) at pretest and .78 (n = 53) at posttest, and Pearson correlation was 0.85 (n = 39), indicating internal consistency and test-retest reliability. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The instrument was determined to be both a valid and reliable instrument to measure HAES attitudes among college students in health education. Nutrition educators may find this instrument useful in other settings to assess HAES attitudes or as an alternative to other instruments measuring anti-fat attitudes.

Adult survivors' lived experience of burns and post-burn health: A qualitative analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The individual implications of major burns are likely to affect the full spectrum of patients' physical, emotional, psychological, social, environmental, spiritual and vocational health. Yet, not all of the post-burn health implications are inevitably negative. Utilizing a qualitative approach, this heuristic phenomenological study explores the experiences and perceptions early (ages 18-35) and midlife (ages 36-64) adults providing insight for how participants perceived their burns in relationship to their post-burn health. METHODS: Participants were interviewed using semi-structured interview questions framed around seven domains of health. Interview recordings were transcribed verbatim then coded line by line, identifying dominant categories related to health. Categories were analyzed identifying shared themes among the study sample. RESULTS: Participants were Caucasian, seven males and one female. Mean age at time of interviews was 54.38 and 42.38 at time of burns. Mean time since burns occurred was 9.38 years with a minimum of (20%) total body surface area (TBSA) burns. Qualitative content analysis rendered three emergent health-related categories and associated themes that represented shared meanings within the participant sample. The category of "Physical Health" reflected the theme physical limitations, pain and sensitivity to temperature. Within the category of "Intellectual Health" were themes of insight, goal setting and self-efficacy, optimism and humor and within "Emotional Health" were the themes empathy and gratitude. CONCLUSIONS: By exploring subjective experiences and perceptions of health shared through dialog with experienced burned persons, there are opportunities to develop a more complete picture of how holistic health may be affected by major burns that in turn could support future long-term rehabilitative trajectories of early and midlife adult burn patients.

Influence of professional preparation and class structure on sexuality topics taught in middle and high schools.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the impact of professional preparation and class structure on sexuality topics taught and use of practice-based instructional strategies in US middle and high school health classes. METHODS: Data from the classroom-level file of the 2006 School Health Policies and Programs were used. A series of multivariable logistic regression models were employed to determine if sexuality content taught was dependent on professional preparation and /or class structure (HE only versus HE/another subject combined). Additional multivariable logistic regression models were employed to determine if use of practice-based instructional strategies was dependent upon professional preparation and/or class structure. Years of teaching health topics and size of the school district were included as covariates in the multivariable logistic regression models. RESULTS: Findings indicated professionally prepared health educators were significantly more likely to teach 7 of the 13 sexuality topics as compared to nonprofessionally prepared health educators. There was no statistically significant difference in the instructional strategies used by professionally prepared and nonprofessionally prepared health educators. Exclusively health education classes versus combined classes were significantly more likely to have included 6 of the 13 topics and to have incorporated practice-based instructional strategies in the curricula. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated professional preparation and class structure impacted sexuality content taught. Class structure also impacted whether opportunities for students to practice skills were made available. Results support the need for continued advocacy for professionally prepared health educators and health only courses.

Burn injuries among infants and toddlers in the United States, 1997-2002.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the magnitude and causes of unintentional burn injuries attributed to hot objects or substances among children aged birth to 4 years in the United States. METHODS: Data were obtained from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care System. RESULTS: Annually, 78,000 infants and toddlers were treated in ambulatory care settings for injuries due to contact with a hot object or substance. Hot foods, curling irons, or clothing irons were the main causes of burns. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the varied causes of burns, a combination of health education and product design interventions are likely necessary to prevent these injuries.

Knowledge and intentions of ninth-grade girls after a breast self-examination program.

Breast cancer ranks as the second-leading cause of death for women. Until recently the American Cancer Society advocated teaching breast self-examination (BSE) procedures. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, active in the fight against breast cancer, continues to support educational efforts to teach breast self-examination skills to adolescent girls. Funded by the Komen Foundation, a BSE education program was developed and delivered by health educators at the Hult Health Education Center. The 50-minute program consisted of a PowerPoint slide presentation of breast cancer and BSE facts, and a video demonstration of proper BSE technique. Using a quasi-experimental design, the program was evaluated for changes in knowledge and intention to perform BSE. Ninth-grade girls at four public high schools (n = 255) in Peoria, Ill., were given a pretest to determine their knowledge about breast cancer and breast self-examination. A delayed posttest was administered between five to six weeks later (n = 211). Using the Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test, girls who participated in the BSE education program (treatment group) recorded a significantly higher overall mean knowledge score than girls who did not participate (comparison group). Those who participated in the program retained that knowledge over a five- to six-week period. Analyses of variance revealed that more girls in the treatment group reported performing BSE in the past month as well as a higher intention to perform BSE in the future.

Impact of activity behaviors on physical activity identity and self-efficacy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship of level of physical activity and length of time of adherence to physical activity, with physical activity identity (PAI) and physical activity self-efficacy (PASE). METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, 409 adults completed a survey assessing activity level and adherence, PAI and PASE. RESULTS: Vigorous activity was associated with higher scores on PAI and PASE scales with activity level contributing significantly larger proportions of the variance in scores compared to adherence. CONCLUSION: Effort should be invested in encouraging people when beginning an exercise regimen to set a long-term goal of vigorous activity. This approach may lead to stronger identification with and self-efficacy for physical activity leading to greater adherence.