The impact of the Know Your Body (KYB) comprehensive school health education program was evaluated in a sample of first through sixth-grade students from New York City, using two analytic strategies: a longitudinal cohort and a "posttest only" cohort. In both cohorts, program impact was examined between condition (i.e., KYB vs. no-treatment comparison group) as well as within condition (i.e., low, moderate, and high student exposure). Students in the longitudinal cohort (n = 1,209) who were exposed to high implementation teachers had significantly (p < .05) lower total plasma cholesterol and systolic blood pressure at 3-year posttest than comparison students. Students in the posttest only cohort (n = 3,066) who had high implementation teachers showed significantly (p < .05) lower total plasma cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, self-reported intake of meat and desserts, as well as higher health knowledge and self-reported intake of "heart healthy" foods and vegetables than comparison students. In both cohorts, program effects for several outcome variables were linearly related to level of student exposure to the curriculum, suggesting a dose-response effect. While several methodologic limitations may have influenced study outcomes, these data nonetheless appear to confirm that the KYB program can have a significant positive impact on the knowledge, behavior, and selected risk factors of students in primary grades and that efforts to disseminate and evaluate school health education programs should include strategies to monitor and enhance teacher implementation.

Hypercholesterolemic children are increasingly being treated with lipid-lowering diets, but little research has focused on the effects of specific dietary substitutions on HDL cholesterol. We examined the relation between carbohydrate intake and HDL cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic children consuming fat-restricted diets. We obtained 3-d food records for 67 children (mean age: 5.8 +/- 2.5 y) referred for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Mean plasma HDL cholesterol was 1.12 +/- 0.21 mmol/L and total cholesterol was 5.99 +/- 1.39 mmol/L. Dietary intake comprised (percentage of total energy) 24.9 +/- 5.1% fat, 59.9 +/- 6.5% carbohydrate, and 16.5 +/- 3.4% protein. Carbohydrate intake included 30.7 +/- 7.4% from simple and 22.6 +/- 6.2% from complex carbohydrates. HDL cholesterol was positively correlated with intake of total fat (r = 0.44, P < 0.001) and saturated fatty acids (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) and inversely correlated with intake of total carbohydrate (r = -0.55, P < 0.001) and simple carbohydrate (r = -0.40, P < 0.001), but not with complex carbohydrate (r = -0.02). The significant inverse relation between simple carbohydrate intake and HDL cholesterol remained after intakes of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids; intake of complex carbohydrates; dietary cholesterol; plasma triacylglycerol; and age were adjusted for with multivariate techniques. In summary, higher dietary intake of simple carbohydrates was associated with lower HDL-cholesterol concentrations in hypercholesterolemic children consuming reduced-fat diets.

Two-week-old rabbit tracheal smooth muscle (TSM) and bronchial smooth muscle (BSM) segments were placed in organ baths, and isometric contractions to substance P (SP) were obtained. In the presence of phosphoramidon (PHOS), a neutral endopeptidase inhibitor, BSM segments were significantly more reactive and sensitive to SP than TSM segments. Neither neostigmine (NEO) nor atropine (ATR) eliminated these regional differences. Airway contractile responses to: 1) Senktide (NK-3 agonist); 2) neurokinin A (NKA, a NK-2 agonist); and 3) Septide (a highly selective NK-1 agonist) were separately obtained. In the presence of PHOS and NEO, Senktide was virtually inactive in both BSM and TSM. In the presence of PHOS, NEO, and ATR, NKA was equipotent in all airway segments; in contrast, the Septide response was significantly more reactive in BSM than in TSM segments. After inhibition of NK-1 activity with GR 82334, a competitive NK-1 receptor antagonist, the regional differences in SP reactivity were greatly diminished. This latter indication of a NK-1 contribution was confirmed using Septide-mediated inactivation of NK-1 receptors whereby the regional differences in airway sensitivity to SP were eliminated. These findings indicate that both endogenous neutral endopeptidase activity as well as NK-1 and NK-2 receptor influences may modulate the contractile responses to SP in immature rabbit airways.

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