Urgent need to strengthen school health in Asia and the Pacific islands.

In Asia and the Pacific island region, strengthening of school health activities and measures is urgently recommended to deal with the impact of the increasing risk of potential school closures due to continuation of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2021. As the incidence of COVID-19 in 2020 was relatively low in these regions, many of the countries were able to avoid prolonged school closures. However, even if vaccination is expanded in the future and the pandemic tends to come to an end, the risk of SARS-CoV-2 variants spreading among children will also increase, and the possibility of having to close schools again will also increase.

Oral health behavior of children and guardians' beliefs about children's dental caries in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).

Dental caries is considered a major health problem among schoolchildren in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). According to Health Belief Model (HBM)-based research, children's oral health behavior can be determined by their guardians' beliefs. This study aimed to describe children's oral health behavior and its association with childhood dental caries, as well as to assess associations between children's tooth-brushing behavior and guardians' beliefs in an urban area of Lao PDR, using HBM. Data were collected from ten primary schools in the Sisattanak district, the Vientiane capital, between 2013 and 2014. Ten dentists with the help of dental hygienists and schoolteachers conducted dental health check-ups at the schools that diagnosed dental caries based on visual inspection. They also conducted a questionnaire-based survey with the schoolchildren's guardians to collect data including socio-economic and demographic information, their children's oral health behavior, and guardians' beliefs derived from HBM, including perceived susceptibility to and perceived severity of child dental caries, perceived benefit of and perceived barrier to child's tooth brushing, and self-efficacy in making their children brush their teeth twice daily. A mixed-effects logistic regression model assessed the association between dental caries and children's oral health behavior and between children's tooth-brushing behavior and guardians' beliefs. Data from 1161 of 1304 (89.0%) children registered at the schools were used. The prevalence of dental caries was 82%. Children who brushed their teeth ≥ twice/day were significantly less likely to have dental caries than those brushing once or seldom (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.45 to 0.91). The number of children who brushed twice daily also significantly increased with the increased level of guardians' self-efficacy (OR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.91 to 2.41). In conclusion, childhood dental caries was associated with daily tooth brushing. Children's tooth-brushing behavior was associated with guardians' self-efficacy in making their children brush twice daily.

The contextual effect of school satisfaction on health-risk behaviors in Japanese high school students.

BACKGROUND: The importance of school contextual effects on health and well-being among young people is currently recognized. This study examines the contextual effects of school satisfaction as well as the effects of individual-level school satisfaction on health-risk behaviors in Japanese high school students. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 3248 students in grades 10 through 12 at 29 public high schools throughout Okinawa, Japan. Using multilevel logistic regression models, the effects of individual- and contextual-level school satisfactions on health-risk behaviors were analyzed. The contextual-level school satisfaction was defined as satisfaction at the school level and was measured using aggregated individual scores. Behaviors studied included current smoking, current drinking, and sexual activity. RESULTS: Approximately 15%, 6%, and 5% of the total individual differences in smoking, drinking, and sexual behaviors, respectively, occurred at the school level. Students with lower school satisfaction were more likely to engage in health-risk behaviors compared with those with higher school satisfaction. After adjustment for individual-level school satisfaction and other covariates, the odds of smoking and drinking increased with decreasing contextual-level school satisfaction. However, the association of contextual school satisfaction with sexual activity did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that individual- and contextual-level school satisfactions affected smoking and drinking behaviors in Japanese high school students. However, no significant association between contextual-level school satisfaction and sexual activity was observed.

Relationship of condom use with other sexual risk behaviors among selected Japanese adolescents.

This study examines relationships between condom use and age at initiation of sex, the number of sexual partners, and alcohol or drug use before sex among a convenience sample of 2852 Japanese adolescents. We found that nonuse of condoms is related to early initiation of sex, having multiple sexual partners and alcohol or drug use before sex.

Association of age at onset of cigarette and alcohol use with subsequent smoking and drinking patterns among Japanese high school students.

This study examined relationships between age of smoking and drinking initiation, and subsequent patterns of smoking and drinking among Japanese high school students. Self-administered anonymous questionnaires were conducted using a sample of 1,466 students in grades 10 through 12 at seven public senior high schools in urban areas of Okinawa, Japan. After controlling for demographic variables, students who began smoking at age 12 or younger were more likely to become heavy smokers and heavy drinkers than those who began smoking at ages 15 or older. Age of smoking initiation was not related to risks for current smoking and current drinking. Students who started drinking at age 12 or younger, and at 13 or 14 years, were significantly associated with current smoking, current drinking, heavy smoking, and heavy drinking, compared to students who began drinking at ages 15 or older. Early onset smoking and drinking represent significant predictors for subsequent use of cigarettes and alcohol. These findings suggest that smoking and drinking prevention programs should begin during elementary school.