This research investigates the question of why some younger children appear to have better motor skills than older children. The hypothesis that children involved in physical activities after school or in the evenings have better motor skills at younger ages than children who aren't involved in physical activities outside of school is proposed. Young children have very varied levels of motor skills competency that have developed due to living in different environments and having varied opportunity to be physically active. These differences are a result of factors like socioeconomic status, parental influence, climate, and culture.2 Sports and physical activities are usually executed in team settings, allowing children to develop important social skills like teamwork, leadership, sportsmanship, and responsibility among others.1 But what if in addition to these numerous benefits, physical activity throughout childhood also offered an improvement in the rate of development of motor skills? 120 students in grades K-5 at the East Tennessee State University School participated in a large program looking at perception, cognition and motor skills. There were no exclusion criteria for the study and all children were invited to participate.  A total of 95% of the kids participated in the study and the attrition rate was zero. This portion focuses on the part of the larger study that was done prior to the start of the program. Children’s motor skills were evaluated with a standardized measure (BOT-2). The BOT-2 had 3 sections which were implemented, running speed and agility, balance, and upper limb coordination. These scores served as the dependent variable that relied on the time spent in physical activities outside of school and in the evenings as the independent variable. The scores were analyzed along with self-reported surveys on the levels of physical activity of the children. The results showed that there was evidence to support an association between the amount of physical activity outside of school, either after or in the evenings, r = .621, p = .001. There was evidence to support an association between the amount of time spent in physical activity on after school/evenings and running speed/agility, r = 0.295 and 0.269 p=.001. There was some evidence to support an association between the amount of time spent in physical activity after school and upper limb r = 0.253, p = 0.05. There was no evidence to support an association between the amount of time spent in physical activity on nights/after school and balance r = 0.045 and r = 0.059 p = 0.45. This work will be useful in understanding the relationship between children’s participation in physical activity after school and their motor skills development rate. The information gathered from this research can be used to promote and support the increase of physical activity time that is available to students during school. Allowing children to have more experiences and opportunities for physical activity at school can help minimize any disadvantage in the rate of motor skills development that children who are not physically active at home may have.

This diploma thesis examines the awareness of students in terms of the risks of energy consumption at two selected secondary schools in Prague according to the number of correct answers. Firstly, it deals with the description and composition of energy drinks in order to find out which substances they contain and how they can stimulate the body. It describes the origin of energy drinks and their development and impact on society and people. The composition of energy drinks is examined and the individual ingredients are inspected, including their effects. In case of objection, the positive effects of consumption are also examined along with consumption risks. The most important part of the thesis is to compare and evaluate the specific health impact on the consumption of energy drinks and the awareness of their effects. Not only is the health impact evaluated, but the social and economic impacts, advertising and the influence of famillial or social background are evaluated also. The main aim of the work was to examine the awareness of students in terms of the risks of energy consumption at two selected secondary schools in Prague according to the number of correct answers. Pupils have been found to consume energy drinks without being sufficiently aware of their effects. They are not sufficiently...

Bakgrund: Unga hbtq-personer upplever mer diskriminering och sämre hälsa än andra unga. Skolan utgör en viktig arena för att skapa en inkluderande och hälsofrämjande miljö. Enligt skollagen och diskrimineringslagen ska alla behandlas lika oavsett kön eller sexuell läggning. För att förhindra att elever utsätts för kränkningar behöver normkritiskt hbtq-arbete genomföras under ledning av rektor och i samverkan med samtlig skolpersonal. Skolsköterskan kan arbeta med hbtq-relaterade frågor för att stärka skyddsfaktorer och förebygga ohälsa hos hbtq-personer. Flera skolor i Sverige har genomfört hbtq-certifieringsutbildning men forskning saknas om skolsköterskors erfarenheter av utbildningen. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka skolsköterskors erfarenheter av hbtq-certifiering. Metod: Datainsamling genomfördes genom intervjuer med sju skolsköterskor. I studien användes en kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats, data analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Tre kategorier framkom; Organisatoriska faktorer, Skolsköterskans hbtq-arbete samt Betydelsen av värdegrundsarbete i skolan. Slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar att organisatoriska hinder föreligger för implementering av hbtq-arbete. En förutsättning för framgångsrika effekter av hbtq-certifiering är att samtlig skolpersonal under ledning av rektor är insatta i hbtq-arbete. Vidare framkommer utmaningar med hbtq-arbete med vårdnadshavare och elever i mångkulturella miljöer. / Background: Young LGBTQ persons experience more discrimination and poorer health than other young people. The school offers an important arena for an including and health-promoting setting. According to The Swedish Education act and The Swedish Discrimination act everybody should be treated equally regardless of gender and sexual orientation. To prevent that students get subjected to degrading treatment LGBTQ-affirming work with a norm-critical perspective can be organized by the head teacher and the rest of the school staff. School nurses can work with LGBTQ issues to promote protective factors and prevent illness in LGBTQ individuals. Several schools in Sweden are LGBTQ-certified but there is a lack of research about school nurses´ experiences of the education. Aim: The purpose of the study was to investigate school nurses´ experiences of LGBTQ certification. Method: Datacollection was conducted using interviews with seven school nurses. In the study a qualitative method with an inductive approach was used, the data was analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in three categories; Organizational factors, School nurses´ LGBTQ work and The importance of fundamental values in schools. Conclusion: The result of the study shows that organizational obstacles counteracts the implementation of LGBTQ work. A prerequisite for successful effects of LGBTQ certification is that all school staff lead by the head teacher are well informed about LGBTQ issues. Furthermore, the result reveals challenges with LGBTQ work with legal guardians and students in multicultural settings.

Bakgrund: Skolsköterskan är enligt skollagen ålagd att regelbundet erbjuda alla elever hälsobesök. I hälsobesöket ingår ett hälsosamtal som syftar till att kartlägga, vägleda och ge eleverna stöd och förutsättningar för hälsofrämjande levnadsvanor. Att samtala kring hälsofrämjande aspekter och samtidigt få samtalet att erfaras meningsfullt för skolsköterskan kan vara en utmaning. Det är önskvärt att skolsköterskan har en specialistutbildning med inriktning distriktssköterska, skolsköterska eller barnsjuksköterska. Studien belyser distriktssköterskan i rollen och funktionen som skolsköterska. Syfte: Att beskriva skolsköterskors erfarenheter av vad som gör att hälsosamtal med elever på högstadiet känns meningsfullt för skolsköterskan och därmed ge en djupare förståelse för vad som påverkar meningsfullheten i samtalet. Metod: Studiens har genomförts som en kvalitativ metod med en induktiv ansats och data i studien samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med 10 skolsköterskor. Insamlad data analyserades genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: I resultatet framkom tre teman: Skapa en inbjudande och trygg miljö, ett samtal med fokus på öppenhet och engagemang samt utgå ifrån att göra gott med fokus på eleven. Resultatet visar att ett meningsfullt samtal bygger på en välkomnande och trygg samtalsmiljö där skolsköterskan på ett engagerat och lyhört sätt stöttar eleven utifrån dess behov med fokus på elevens egen delaktighet. Resultatet frambringar även att ett meningsfullt hälsosamtal bygger på vikten av skolsköterskans självreflektion och medvetenhet för att växa i sin yrkesroll vilket denna studie önskar kunna bidra till. Konklusion: Som skolsköterska är det viktigt att inneha förmåga att samtala samt förmåga att behärska kommunikationens utmaningar för att få till känslan av ett bra och meningsfullt hälsosamtal. / Background: According to the Swedish education act, a school nurse is obliged to regularly offer all students a meeting to promote the student’s health. The meetings consist health dialogues with the aim to map, guide and give the student the right support and conditions for a health promoting lifestyle. It is seen as a challenge talking about health promoting aspects and at the same time making the health dialogue feel meaningful for the nurse. Being a school nurse in Sweden requires specialist degree such as primary health care nurse, school nurse or pediatric nurse. This study highlights the primary health care nurse in her role and function as a school nurse. Aim: To describe the school nurse experiences of what makes the health dialogues with junior high school students feel meaningful to the school nurse and thus provide a deeper understanding of what affects the meaningfulness of the health dialogue. Methods: The study was conducted as a qualitative method with an inductive approach and data in the study were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 school nurses. Result: The result exposed three themes: Creating an inviting and safe environment, a dialogue with a focus on openness and commitment, and aiming to do good with a focus on the student. The results show that a meaningful health dialogue is based on a welcoming environment where the school nurse in a committed and responsive way supports the student based on their needs with a focus on the student's own participation. The results also show that a meaningful health dialogue is based on the importance of the school nurse's self-reflection and awareness in order to grow in her professional role, which this study can contribute to. Conclusion: As a school nurse, it is important to have the ability to master the challenges of communication to get the feeling of a good and meaningful health conversation.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Substance abuse among adolescents is a Public Health concern globally with approximately 25 million adolescents (aged 13-15 years) who smoke tobacco, one in every ten girls and one in every five boys. In low- and middle-income countries, 14 % of girls and 18% of boys (13-15years old) are engaged in alcohol use. The Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health of 2018, reports that among the 15- to 19-year-olds, greater than a quarter were current alcohol drinkers. Cannabis (marijuana/dagga) is highly used globally with approximately 3.8% between 15 and 64 years, about 188 million people used it once or more times in 2017. The most commonly abused substances are alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis (marijuana/dagga). In South Africa, most adolescents are found in schools and the average age of drug experimentation is 12 years with early onset of use at about ten years of age.

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The purpose of this study was to describe the impact that the school-based health center in Sneedville, Tennessee had on students who attended Hancock County High School. The study documented how the school-based health center affected students, families, and the community of Sneedville. Case study methodology was used to determine if the school-based health center impacted school attendance, mental and emotional health, sexual practices, and overall quality of life for students and their families. Data were collected through 25 interviews with health center stakeholders. The methodology included working with the staff at the school-based health center to identify the key players and key center users over the seven years of the center's existence. An interview protocol was designed for each of the seven groups that were interviewed. Data were collected from current and former students, parents of current and former students, school counselors, teachers, and the school nurse. Students who attended Hancock County High School as well as their parents were impacted by their direct access to primary comprehensive health care services. Benefits to parents included a reduction of time in missed work and lower medical care costs for students without health insurance. The center promoted and improved school attendance while distributing valuable health education information to students and parents. Because the city of Sneedville has only one medical center and no hospital, the school-based health center served the rural residents well. Beginning as one of only three such centers in the United States, the school-based health center endured and evolved into a full-service, comprehensive health care provider. The center is located in an isolated region of Northeast Tennessee; the location added to the center's impact on the residents. This study could provide a model for rural communities seeking ways to serve the health care needs of youth. In this time of economic instability and educational accountability, this school-based health center appeared to impact student care, thus allowing students to be more capable and ready to learn.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the leadership traits of the school health coordinators (SHCs) for the state of Tennessee and to determine if self-perceptions of the SHC leadership traits coincide with supervisor and colleague perceptions of SHC leadership traits. The health challenges facing young Americans today are different from those of past decades and child health is a major federal and state policy platform. SHCs work at the nexus of 2 highly regulated and political entities: healthcare and education. Thus, it is critical for SHCs to possess strong leadership traits to navigate through the issues and politics that are inherent in this challenging career. By obtaining information regarding the leadership traits of current SHCs, this research provides insight into best practices and continuing education for current and future leaders. The study population consisted of all SHCs, superintendents, principals, and Healthy School Council members in the state of Tennessee, totaling approximately 3,900. Thirty-nine districts out of 221 provided full responses where the SHC, at least one supervisor, and at least 1 colleague responded to the Leadership Traits Questionnaire (LTQ). Permission to use the LTQ was granted by Peter Northouse, the developer of the questionnaire (Appendix A). Findings indicated that SHC self-reported perceptions of the leadership traits were significantly higher than colleagues' perceptions of the SHCs leadership traits. There were no significant differences between SHCs' perceptions and supervisors' perceptions of the SHC leadership traits. Lastly, within the SHC group only there were no significant differences in the perceptions of self-reported leadership traits between city and county SHCs, years of experience, or number of memberships in professional organizations.

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