Children's Health, News & Research

"Health experts are highlighting the importance of making youth-oriented physical activity programs fun as more schools, gyms and health clubs begin offering child-friendly exercise programs, the Los Angeles Times reports." A psychology professor says positive enjoyable activities will likely encourage children to stay active and may help them develop lifelong healthful habits. (Source: Robert Wood Johnson)

The longer a Latino child's family has lived in the US, the less likely he or she is to have a healthy diet, according to a report by researchers at New York University. With every successive generation after immigration from
Mexico and other Latin American countries to the US, the researchers found, young members of the family were increasingly likely to adopt a less healthy diet that included more fat and less fruit.

Children whose parents ask them to do things like light their cigarettes or clean out their ashtrays are more likely to try cigarettes, according to researchers. After a year, study author Dr. Rafael Laniado-Laborin told a conference of American College of Chest Physicians in San Diego, the reasercgers found the kids who engaged in what the study refers to as "smoking were at a minimum more likely to experiment with tobacco.

Results from the annual Monitoring the Future Survey of 8th, 10th and 12th
grade students in U.S. schools indicate that use of marijuana, some club
drugs, cigarettes and alcohol decreased from 2001 to 2002, according to the
Department of Health and Human Services. John P. Walters, director of the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said that the survey
confirms that drug prevention efforts are working.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports on a promising shift toward more humane approaches in the U.S. juvenile justice system. "Several states have announced plans to replace prison-like youth facilities with smaller, more therapeutic correctional homes, and over five dozen jurisdictions nationwide are implementing a detention reform model . . ." (Source: Annie E. Casy Foundation) (PDF)

While newspapers are not known for their technology innovations, some papers are changing tactics as they see their subscriber lists shrinking. One tactic that's working very well for some news operations is using hyperlocal, Web-based news in which local stories are both written and read by a large local audience on-line.

A reference portal to information published by various sections of our federal government can be found online organized into the following topics: dictionaries and glossaries, indices, publications and reports, statistics, and other (databases, encyclopedias, and so on)

These five projects were chosen as 2005 Batten Innovation Award finalists for "new standards for interactive journalism, creativity in digital storytelling and recalibrating the role news organizations play in their communities." Take a look.

The Prometheus Radio Project will team up with Valley Free Radio, Free Press, and the Grassroots Radio Coalition to build a brand new community radio station in Western Massachusetts (Florence, MA)! This barnraising is like no other in that it also will host the 10th Anniversary Grassroots Radio Conference August 4-7, 2005 -- the best place to gather together to learn about community radio, and strategize for its brilliant future. No one turned away for lack of funds, but you have to register to attend! Registration information available on-line.