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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

The Koala Fear Questionnaire: a standardized self-report scale for assessing fears and fearfulness in pre-school and primary school children.

The Koala Fear Questionnaire (KFQ) is a standardized self-report scale for assessing fears and fearfulness in children aged between 4 and 12 years. The current article presents six studies which examined the reliability and validity of the KFQ. Study 1 (N=108) demonstrated that the visual fear scales of Koala bears as employed in the KFQ are highly comparable to the standard 3-point scales that are used in other childhood fear measures. Study 2 (N=163) provided support for the convergent validity of the KFQ in a sample of 8- to 14-year-old children. That is, the scale correlated substantially with alternative measures of childhood fear and anxiety. Study 3 (N=189) showed that the KFQ possesses good internal consistency and test-retest stability in a group of 8- to 11-year-old children. The results of Studies 4 (N=129) and 5 (N=176) indicated that the KFQ is suitable for children aged 4 to 6 years and demonstrated that the psychometric properties of the scale in younger children are highly similar to those obtained in older children. Study 6 (N=926) showed that the factor structure of the KFQ was theoretically meaningful: although the data clearly pointed in the direction of one factor of general fearfulness, spurs of the commonly found five-factor solution of childhood fear were found in the KFQ. Altogether, the KFQ seems to be a valuable addition to the instrumentarium of clinicians and researchers who are working with fearful and anxious children.

Aging↗
PubMed2006

Indoor environmental quality in a 'low allergen' school and three standard primary schools in Western Australia.

To investigate indoor environmental quality in classrooms, assessments were undertaken in a 'low allergen' school and three standard primary schools in Western Australia. Dust allergens, air pollutants and physical parameters were monitored in the four schools at four times (summer school term, autumn holiday, winter school term and winter holiday) in 2002. The levels of particulate matter (PM(10)) and volatile organic compounds were similar between the four primary schools. Although slightly decreased levels of dust-mite and cat allergens were observed in the 'low allergen' school, the reductions were not statistically significant and the allergen levels in all schools were much lower than the recommended sensitizing thresholds. However, significantly lower levels of relative humidity and formaldehyde level during summer-term were recorded in the 'low allergen' school. In conclusion, the evidence here suggests that the 'low allergen' school did not significantly improve the indoor environmental quality in classrooms. Practical Implications School is an important environment for children in terms of exposure to pollutants and allergens. By assessing the levels of key pollutants and allergens in a low allergen school and three standard primary schools in Western Australia, this study provides useful information for implementation of healthy building design that can improve the indoor environment in schools.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMed2005

Active commuting to school among NSW primary school children: implications for public health.

Regular active commuting by walking/cycling can help maintain an active lifestyle. The frequency, duration and correlates of school active commuting were examined for primary school children in NSW, Australia. Walking/cycling-only and in combination with bus/car were of short duration (median 7 or 4 min, respectively) and their frequency dropped within a short distance (>0.75 km) from school. Apart from distance, child's age, school affiliation and perceived safety, regular walking/cycling (10 trips, 22%) was associated with parents' travel mode to work and with father taking the child to school. Frequent walking/cycling (5 trips, 37%) was associated with child's level of independence and the perceived benefits of active commuting. Behaviour change in this setting requires multi-level strategies.

Bicycling↗
PubMed1984

The 1976-1977 rubella epidemic in Fukuoka city in southern Japan: epidemiology and incidences of complications among 80,000 persons who were school children at 28 primary schools and their family members.

From 1975 to 1977, a nationwide rubella epidemic occurred in Japan. This epidemic provided the last chance for the observation of natural rubella and its epidemiology without the influence of mass-vaccination for rubella and before changes in the epidemic pattern of rubella in the 1980's in Japan. Epidemiological and clinical data were obtained by questionnaires on school children in 28 selected primary schools and their family members (a total of 80,221 persons) in Fukuoka in southern Japan during the 1976-1977 rubella epidemic. At the end of 1975 the rubella epidemic was mainly in the western part of Fukuoka city and then it spread to the eastern part. After a break during the summer of 1976, the epidemic restarted in 1977 mainly in the eastern part with few cases in the western part. Rubella was identified clinically in 14,322 cases (18%) during the 1976 epidemic, the incidences in various age groups being as follows: children of below 6 years of age, 28%; primary school children, 37%; junior and senior high school students, 30%; adults of 18 to 30 years of age, 8%; adults of over 30 years of age, 1%. The incidence in primary school children in 1977 was 18%. Of the 14,322 cases of clinical rubella in 1976, 3 with encephalitis, 9 with purpura and 1,843 with joint complaints (pain and/or swelling of joints) were recorded. Rubella encephalitis was estimated to have occurred in 1 in 4,700 cases with clinical rubella, and purpura in 1 in 1,500 cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Family Credit and uptake of school meals in primary school.

BACKGROUND: In April 1988, Family Credit families lost their right to free school meals. They were compensated by an increase in Family Credit of 65p per child per schoolday, subsequently uprated by the retail price index. Families on Income Support continued to be entitled to free school meals. The impact of this legislation on the uptake of school meals has not been documented. METHODS: The uptake of school meals by Family Credit and income Support families over a decade was examined in two samples, each consisting of about 7000 English primary school children, one of "inner city' children and the other more representative of the whole population. RESULTS: The change in legislation resulted in an immediate drop in uptake by Family Credit children of around 30 per cent in both samples. By ethnic group, 42 per cent of the Asian Family Credit children changed from school meals compared with 10 per cent of the Afro-Caribbean children. Income Support children continued to have high uptake of about 90 per cent. By the early 1990s, half of the Family Credit children were not taking school meals, and the price of school meals was more than the allowance in 81 per cent of the areas in the representative sample, and in 45 per cent of the inner city areas. CONCLUSION: Uptake of school meals is very sensitive to changes in welfare policy. Monitoring the impact of these changes on children's health and welfare in families with low resources continues to be an important activity.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Asthma, wheezing, and school absence in primary schools.

The prevalence of wheezing, 'asthma', treatment for 'asthma', and school absence as a result of wheezing in Nottingham was calculated from a questionnaire survey of parents of 4750 children in a random sample of primary schools. A response was achieved for 3805 (80%) children of whom 438 (11.5%) had had episodes of wheezing in the last year and 224 (5.9%) had been diagnosed as having asthma. Asthma treatment had been prescribed for 251 (6.6%) of all children, two thirds of all the children receiving drugs. Two hundred and sixty five (7%) children had lost time from school because of wheezing (median loss of seven days). Of the 64 children losing more than 10 days, 45 (70%) were not taking any drugs, or taking only beta agonists. The prevalence of wheezing found by this survey was comparable with that in similarly designed surveys, though the proportion of children diagnosed as having asthma was higher. Though doctors may now diagnose asthma more readily wheezing still remains an important cause of school absence and still seems to be undertreated.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1998

[Role of school lunch in primary school education: a trial analysis of school teachers' views using an open-ended questionnaire].

We tried to analyze synthetically teachers' view points associated with health education and roles of school lunch in primary education. For this purpose, a survey using an open-ended questionnaire consisting of eight items relating to health education in the school curriculum was carried out in 100 teachers of ten public primary schools. Subjects were asked to describe their view regarding the following eight items: 1) health and physical guidance education, 2) school lunch guidance education, 3) pupils' attitude toward their own health and nutrition, 4) health education, 5) role of school lunch in education, 6) future subjects of health education, 7) class room lesson related to school lunch, 8) guidance in case of pupil with unbalanced dieting and food avoidance. Subjects described their own opinions on an open-ended questionnaire response sheet. Keywords in individual descriptions were selected, rearranged and classified into categories according to their own meanings, and each of the selected keywords were used as the dummy variable. To assess individual opinions synthetically, a principal component analysis was then applied to the variables collected through the teachers' descriptions, and four factors were extracted. The results were as follows. 1) Four factors obtained from the repeated principal component analysis were summarized as; roles of health education and school lunch program (the first principal component), cooperation with nurse-teachers and those in charge of lunch service (the second principal component), time allocation for health education in home-room activity and lunch time (the third principal component) and contents of health education and school lunch guidance and their future plan (the fourth principal component). 2) Teachers regarded the role of school lunch in primary education as providing daily supply of nutrients, teaching of table manners and building up friendships with classmates, health education and food and nutrition education, and developing food preferences through eating lunch together with classmates. 3) Significant positive correlation was observed between "the teachers' opinion about the role of school lunch of providing opportunity to learn good behavior for food preferences through eating lunch together with classmates" and the first principal component "roles of health education and school lunch program" (r = 0.39, p < 0.01). The variable "the role of school lunch is health education and food and nutrition education" showed positive correlation with the principle component "cooperation with nurse-teachers and those in charge of lunch service" (r = 0.27, p < 0.01). Interesting relationships obtained were that teachers with longer educational experience tended to place importance in health education and food and nutrition education as the role of school lunch, and that male teachers regarded the roles of school lunch more importantly for future education in primary education than female teachers did.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

A randomized controlled trial of the effect of antihelminthic treatment and micronutrient fortification on health status and school performance of rural primary school children.

Single interventions for helminthic infections and micronutrient deficiencies are effective, but it is not clear whether combined interventions will provide equal, additive or synergistic effects to improve children's health. The study objective was to determine the impact of single and combined interventions on nutritional status and scholastic and cognitive performance of school children. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 11 rural South African primary school randomly allocated 579 children aged between 8 and 10 years into six study groups, half of whom received antihelminthic treatment at baseline. The de-wormed and non-de-wormed arms were further divided into three groups and given biscuits, either unfortified or fortified with vitamin A and iron or with vitamin A only, given daily for 16 weeks. The outcome measures were anthropometric, micronutrient and parasite status, and scholastic and cognitive test scores. There was a significant treatment effect of vitamin A on serum retinol (p < 0.01), and the suggestion of an additive effect between vitamin A fortification and de-worming. Fortified biscuits improved micronutrient status in rural primary school children; vitamin A with de-worming had a greater impact on micronutrient status than vitamin A fortification alone and antihelminthic treatment significantly reduced the overall prevalence of parasite infection. The burden of micronutrient deficiency (anaemia, iron and vitamin A) and stunting in this study population was low and, coupled with the restricted duration of the intervention (16 weeks), might have limited the impact of the interventions.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2000

[Adventure conflict--early prevention of violence in child day care centers and primary schools].

The primary target group of the program are children aged 3 to 10 years attending child day care centres and primary schools. The intermediate target groups are teachers and parents. The objectives for the primary target group are to promote good social behavior, to develop constructive solutions to conflict and to set out rules and limits for children. The objectives for the intermediate target groups are to learn constructive ways of handling conflicts in each team, to improve cooperation in the teams and between teachers and parents and to raise awareness among parents. The work is done on three levels: children, teachers and parents. It provides training, group work, work with creative media, relaxation and movement exercises, theory, role play and advice on organization.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2003

A knowledge of asthma in school children: a survey among primary school teachers.

A survey was carried out among primary school teachers in the district of Kota Bharu, Malaysia to assess the level of knowledge on asthma and its management. Our findings revealed that primary school teachers were less informed about the management and treatment of asthma. They were relatively more knowledgeable about the causes and symptomatology of asthma. The majority of respondents had misunderstanding regarding the effect of rain, smoking and cold weather on asthma. It is important that teachers should be able to recognise symptoms of an asthmatic attack or take the necessary precautions to avoid such an attack. Many teachers agreed on the need to have an asthma education programme in their teaching curriculum.

Asthma↗
PubMed1989

School meals, school milk and height of primary school children in England and Scotland in the eighties.

In a nutritional surveillance system of primary school children in England and Scotland we assessed the possible effects on height gain of changes in school meals and school milk policies following the 1980 Education Act (No. 2). Mean height and height gain were estimated separately for English and Scottish samples from 1982 to 1984, and for a selective sample of inner city areas with a high proportion of ethnic minorities from 1983 to 1985 in children from 5.00 to 9.99 years. Children receiving free school meals were smaller than children paying for school meals or receiving a meal prepared elsewhere, while children receiving free school milk were of similar stature to other children in the study. The rate of growth was assessed in children receiving school meals or lunches prepared at home, and in those for whom arrangements changed during the study period; it was also assessed in those children for whom school milk was available, not available, or for whom the provision changed. No consistent association was found between provision of school meals or school milk and the rate of growth in the three samples studied when stratified according to poverty status and ethnic background. We conclude that this observational study does not provide any evidence that the current availability of school meals or school milk increases the rate of growth of primary school children in any social stratum.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Social relations of children in the primary school age group. A study with the SOBEKI method in 8- to 11-year-old primary school children].

From the beginning of their lifes children are involved in many different kinds of social relations, that influence the development of children's personality. With the "Soziales Beziehungsverfahren" (SOBEKI), a method for the clinical diagnostic of children is available, that allows of determining the social network of six- to twelve-year-olds as well as specific distributions of functions in the children's systems of relations and beyond, making conclusions about cohesion and hierarchical structures of children's networks in- and outside their families. In this article a study will be presented, in which the social relations of eight- to eleven-year-old primary school children were investigated with the SOBEKI.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Primary school teacher as a primary health care worker.

School children (1608) were examined for three items (nails, scalp hairs and teeth) relating to personal hygiene and relevant infective conditions from two sets of villages i.e. one set where primary school teacher was working as primary health care worker (Group I) and the other set where Community Health Volunteer (CHV) was delivering primary health care (Group II). The objective was to evaluate the efficiency of school teachers' role vis-a-vis CHVs' in imparting health education to school children. Out of 1608 school children, 801 belonged to Group I villages and the remaining 807 to Group II villages. From the results, it was evident that children of Group I villages were better with respect to all the items related to personal hygiene and infective conditions excepting scalp infections, where difference was not statistically significant, indicating teachers' superiority over the CHVs' in imparting health education to school children.

Child↗
PubMed2001

The effect of shoulder-girdle loading by a school bag on lung volumes in Chinese primary school children.

BACKGROUND: Heavy loading of the spine may induce musculoskeletal problems in children. Local surveys reported frequent overloading of school bags carried by primary school children. The effect of an overweight school bag on the child's lung function has not been reported. AIMS: To investigate the effect of shoulder-girdle loading on forced expiratory lung volumes in primary school children and to compare this effect with that of an assumed kyphotic posture. STUDY DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: Forty-three primary school children, mean age 9.6 years underwent spirometry lung-function measurements, while adopting the following five conditions in random order: free standing; kyphotic standing; standing wearing a backpack weighing 10%, 20% and 30% of their body weight. OUTCOMES MEASURES: Forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEF). RESULTS: There were no significant differences in FEV1 and FVC between free standing and the 10% body weight load. However, both FEV1 and FVC decreased significantly when the student adopted the kyphotic posture and when the load in the backpack was increased to 20% and 30% of body weight. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates a restrictive effect on lung volumes when a school-bag load is heavier than 10% of a child's body weight. Our results also confirm the detrimental effect of a kyphotic posture on pulmonary mechanics and the necessity for health-care professionals to advocate proper postural advice to school children, teachers and parents.

Child↗
PubMed2002

[School health education: practices and representations of primary school teachers].

A better understanding of primary school teachers' practices and representations toward health education (HE), and identification of individual or structural resistance as well as the partnership and training needs all constitute important goals in HE research. A quantitative study was conducted between April and December 2001 on a representative sample of the population of primary school teachers (n = 673) in the Auvergne region. The results demonstrate that the majority of teachers declare practicing and implementing HE. The approach is primarily thematic, essentially limited to a few lessons since it is only integrated into a broader project 20% of the time. 30% of teachers work in partnership, mainly with partners in school health; however, parents are rarely involved in HE activities. Parameters which influence the teachers' practices and representations are: (1) prioritizing work within an educational network and an inter-communal pedagogical regrouping, with the advantage that there are a greater number of teachers to do HE in these schools than in others, and (2) receiving initial or in-service training. These results suggest that a policy aiming to generalize the inclusion of HE in French primary schools must develop teacher training as well as support and accompany the collective dynamics within schools.

Attitude↗