title: Factors associated with health behaviors in middle childhood.
abstract: Health behaviors of school-aged children are the precursors of adolescents' health-risk behaviors. The study reported here is the first wave of a cohort-sequential longitudinal study of health-risk behaviors in youth. Using a youth resilience framework, researchers collected data from 1,934 youth in Grades 4-6. Statistically significant differences in health behaviors were found for gender, ethnicity, and grade level, which accounted for only 2% of the variance. Risk and protective factors accounted for an additional 18% of variance in health behaviors. With the federal mandate for schools to establish wellness policies, school nurses are ideally situated to influence school environments to support children's healthy behaviors.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. ellerew@mail.utexas.edu <ellerew@mail.utexas.edu>
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rew
authors.forename: Sharon D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Horner
authors.forename: Rachel T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Fouladi
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D002666:Psychology, Child; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012573:School Nursing; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013781:Texas; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology