Factors Associated With Health Behaviors in Middle Childhood

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. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.