BACKGROUNDWhile it is a national priority to support the health and education of students, these sectors must better align, integrate, and collaborate to achieve this priority. This article summarizes the literature on the connection between health and academic achievement using the Whole School, Whole Community, and Whole Child (WSCC) framework as a way to address health-related barriers to learning.METHODSA literature review was conducted on the association between student health and academic achievement.RESULTSMost of the evidence examined the association between student health behaviors and academic achievement, with physical activity having the most published studies and consistent findings. The evidence supports the need for school health services by demonstrating the association between chronic conditions and decreased achievement. Safe and positive school environments were associated with improved health behaviors and achievement. Engaging families and community members in schools also had a positive effect on students' health and achievement.CONCLUSIONSSchools can improve the health and learning of students by supporting opportunities to learn about and practice healthy behaviors, providing school health services, creating safe and positive school environments, and engaging families and community. This evidence supports WSCC as a potential framework for achieving national educational and health goals.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To date, most parent-based research has neglected the role of fathers in shaping adolescent sexual behavior and has focused on mothers. The objective of this study was to conduct a structured review to assess the role of paternal influence on adolescent sexual behavior and to assess the methodological quality of the paternal influence literature related to adolescent sexual behavior. METHODS:We searched electronic databases: PubMed, PsychINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Family Studies Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Studies published between 1980 and 2011 that targeted adolescents 11 to 18 years and focused on paternal parenting processes were included. Methodological quality was assessed by using an 11-item scoring system. RESULTS: Thirteen articles were identified and reviewed. Findings suggest paternal factors are independently associated with adolescent sexual behavior relative to maternal factors. The most commonly studied paternal influence was emotional qualities of the father-adolescent relationship. Paternal communication about sex was most consistently associated with adolescent sexual behavior, whereas paternal attitudes about sex was least associated. Methodological limitations include a tendency to rely on cross-sectional design, nonprobability sampling methods, and focus on sexual debut versus broader sexual behavior. CONCLUSIONS:Existing research preliminarily suggests fathers influence the sexual behavior of their adolescent children; however, more rigorous research examining diverse facets of paternal influence on adolescent sexual behavior is needed. We provide recommendations for primary care providers and public health practitioners to better incorporate fathers into interventions designed to reduce adolescent sexual risk behavior.

Establishing healthy dietary and physical activity patterns among youths is an important public health strategy for improving health and preventing chronic diseases; however, few adolescents meet U.S. government recommendations for dietary or physical activity behaviors, and disparities by sex and race/ethnicity exist. CDC analyzed data from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey to update estimates of dietary and physical activity behaviors among U.S. high school students overall and by sex and race/ethnicity. In addition, 2-year comparisons (2017 and 2019) and trends in prevalence of these behaviors during 2009-2019 were examined. In 2019, overall, during the 7 days before the survey, 41.8% of students had eaten fruit or drunk 100% fruit juices <1 time/day; 40.7% had eaten vegetables <1 time/day; and 16.7% had not eaten breakfast on all 7 days. Moreover, although 57.4% of students had played on ≥1 sports team during the 12 months before the survey, less than half of students had been physically active for ≥60 minutes/day on all 7 days (23.2%), had exercised to strengthen or tone their muscles on ≥3 days/week (49.5%), had met both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity guidelines (16.5%), or had attended physical education classes on all 5 days in an average school week (25.9%). Trend data indicate limited progress in shifting dietary and physical activity behaviors. That is, with the exception of decreases in the percentage of students who had consumed soda ≥1 time/day

CONTEXT Increasingly, health care providers are using approaches targeting parents in an effort to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Research is needed to elucidate areas in which providers can target adolescents and parents effectively. Parental monitoring offers one such opportunity, given consistent protective associations with adolescent sexual risk behavior. However, less is known about which components of monitoring are most effective and most suitable for provider-initiated family-based interventions. OBJECTIVE We performed a meta-analysis to assess the magnitude of association between parental monitoring and adolescent sexual intercourse, condom use, and contraceptive use. DATA SOURCES We conducted searches of Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycInfo, Cochrane, the Education Resources Information Center, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Proquest, and Google Scholar. STUDY SELECTION We selected studies published from 1984 to 2014 that were written in English, included adolescents, and examined relationships between parental monitoring and sexual behavior. DATA EXTRACTION We extracted effect size data to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) by using a mixed-effects model. RESULTS Higher overall monitoring (pooled OR, 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69–0.80), monitoring knowledge (pooled OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73–0.90), and rule enforcement (pooled OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.59–0.75) were associated with delayed sexual intercourse. Higher overall monitoring (pooled OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.01–1.24) and monitoring knowledge (pooled OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.01–1.31) were associated with greater condom use. Finally, higher overall monitoring was associated with increased contraceptive use (pooled OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.09–1.86), as was monitoring knowledge (pooled OR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.42–3.63). LIMITATIONS Effect sizes were not uniform across studies, and most studies were cross-sectional. CONCLUSIONS Provider-initiated family-based interventions focused on parental monitoring represent a novel mechanism for enhancing adolescent sexual and reproductive health.