American Journal of Public Health: June 1998 Highlights
The articles highlighted below appear in the June 1998 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of the American Public Health Association. This issue features "Child and Adolescent Health."
CONTACT: For copies of articles, call Tarita Marshall, (202) 789-5687.
When citing information from the Journal, we request that the American Public Health Association be given credit as the publisher of the American Journal of Public Health.
Student Attitudes About Marijuana Determine Historic Trends in Use
Recent increases in the use of marijuana by eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders are fueled by decreased disapproval of the drug and by decreases in student perceptions of the hazards of using the drug, not by changes in lifestyle choices. Analysis of surveys of 61,000 high school seniors from 1976 through 1996, and of 88,000 eighth- and 10th-graders from 1991 through 1996, show that attitudes about marijuana, not individual lifestyles, determine historic fluctuations in use. Seniors' use of the drug increased during most of the '70s and decreased throughout the '80s. Use increased in the '90s among all three age-groups studied. School grades, truancy, religious commitment, hours spent working and evenings out for recreation all fail to account for fluctuations in student marijuana use, while changes in disapproval of the drug and in perceived risk of harm mirror usage changes.
[From: "Explaining Recent Increases in Students' Marijuana Use: Impacts of Perceived Risks and Disapproval, 1976 through 1996." Contact: Diane Swanbrow, University of Michigan News Service, or Jerald G. Bachman, PhD, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.]
Moms Who Smoke and Breast-feed Increase InfantÃs Exposure to Tobacco Products 10-Fold
Mothers who both smoke and breast-feed expose their infants to tobacco smoke in greater concentrations than those who smoke and bottle-feed. A study of 330 mother-infant pairs found that breast-fed infants of smoking mothers have urine cotinine levels 10-fold higher than bottle-fed infants whose mothers smoke. Cotinine is a nicotine derivative that can help measure exposure to tobacco smoke. The study concludes that health care providers need to be as diligent in encouraging mothers not to smoke after birth as in the prenatal period.
[From: "Tobacco Exposure of Young Infants: Importance of Breast-Feeding among Smoking Mothers." Contact: Maria Mascola, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.]
Aerobic Exercise at School Lowers Blood Pressure in High-Risk Girls
One semester of aerobic exercise physical education lowered the systolic blood pressure of higher-risk adolescent girls more than standard physical education. Only the members of the aerobic exercise group increased their estimated cardiorespiratory fitness. This study of ninth-grade girls with blood pressure above the 67th percentile found that aerobic exercise physical education is a feasible and effective health promotion strategy for high-risk adolescent girls.
[From: "School-Based Exercise Lowers Blood Pressure in Higher-Risk Adolescent Girls." Contact: Craig K. Ewart, PhD, Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse.]
Teenage Men Are Having Less Sex and Are Using Condoms More Often
The proportion of never-married 15- to 19-year-old males who have had sex with a female declined from 60 percent to 55 percent between 1988 and 1995. During the same period, the share of those sexually active men using a condom at last intercourse rose from 57 percent to 67 percent. Overall, the proportion of males who had sex without condoms last year declined from 37 percent to 27 percent. While protective behaviors among teenagers have increased, significant proportions of teenagers ñ especially Black and Hispanic males ñ remain unprotected.
[From: "Changes in Sexual Behavior and Condom Use among Teenage Men: 1988 to 1995." Contact: Freya L. Sonenstein, PhD, Director, Population Studies Center, Urban Institute, Washington, DC.]
Tobacco Campaign Contributions Influence State Legislators on Tobacco Policy
Campaign contributions by the tobacco industry influence state legislatorsà decisions on tobacco control policy-making. According to this new study, as tobacco industry contributions to a legislatorÃs campaign increase, a legislator tends to vote more pro-tobacco industry. A more pro-tobacco position is associated with larger contributions from the industry. The study results are significant even after controlling for partisanship, majority party status and leadership effects. In California, campaign contributions were still significantly related to tobacco policy votes after control for constituent attitudes and legislatorsà personal characteristics.
[From: "Are Tobacco Industry Campaign Contributions Influencing State and Legislative Behavior?" Contact: Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA.]
School Performance Can Predict Whether a Student Smokes or Tries to Quit
Studentsà school performance was a key factor in predicting smoking and quitting attempts when other sociodemographic and family income factors were controlled, says a new study. The study found the following: The older the teen, the less likely he or she is to successfully quit smoking; below average students are less likely to become former smokers; and below average students with lower household incomes make fewer attempts to quit. The study concludes that developing academic or remedial classes designed to improve studentsà school performance may lead to a reduction in smoking rates among teenagers while providing an investment in their futures.
[From: "Teenage Smoking, Attempts to Quit, and School Performance." Contact: Teh-wei Hu, PhD, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA.]
The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly Journal of the American Public Health Association, the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world and the foremost publisher of public health-related books and periodicals promoting high scientific standards, action programs and policy for good health
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