The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of interscholastic sports participation on academic achievement and behavioural development of junior high grades students of basic education schools in Turkey. The subjects of this study were 651 eight grade students from fifteen basic education schools which are randomly selected during 2004-2005 academic year in NevSehir. Required data were collected by student&amp / #8217 / s data record folders (SPDRF), athletics participation licenses, high school entrance exam result sheets, provided by the schools administrations. First of all descriptive statistics were used to define demographic variables of this study. Second, one-way analysis of variance (Tukey HSD) and t-test (Pearson correlation) were used to asses the relationship between demographic variables and interscholastic sports participation on grade point average, high school entrance exam scores, attendance rate and behavioural development of students. Third correlation coefficients were applied to indicate the relation between independent variables and interscholastic sports participation. Finally regression analysis was conducted to understand how well the independent variables predict the academic achievement and behavioural development levels. Results indicate that interscholastic sports participations have positive effects on grade point average, attendance rate, individual development and high school entrance exam scores. Moreover demographic variables of students such as family income, family size, parents education level, family configuration and interscholastic sports participation are the determinants of academic success, behavioral development level, attendance rate, and high school attendance exam scores.

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in young people is a major global public health concern, especially in developed countries. In Australia, studies in 2001 have suggested that 20% of boys and 21.5% of girls aged 7-15 years were overweight or obese, while in 1985 the figures were 10.7% and 11.8%, respectively. In the short-term, overweight and obese children and adolescents suffer from both adverse physical and psychological consequences. The most significant long-term consequence of childhood obesity is its persistence into adulthood, along with numerous associated health risks. A number of studies have shown that there is an association between being an overweight child and subsequent adulthood obesity. In general, childhood overweight and obesity is a multifactorial disease and its development is due to multiple interactions between genes and environment. A number of risk factors such as socioeconomic status, dietary patterns, and physical activity have been frequently identified as contributors to its development. However, the results of recent studies provide conflicting evidence. The statistical limitations also make it difficult to compare the studies on childhood obesity between countries. In addition, existing research in Australia that examines the contribution of different risk factors to childhood obesity is limited. There are no published data on the relationship between overweight/obesity, dietary patterns, and physical activity/inactivity in Australian children and adolescents. This study examined the influences of household income, dietary factors, physical activity/inactivity and ethnicity on overweight and obesity among Australian children and adolescents. It also explored the relationship between self-reported weight and height to actual weight and height in older Australian adolescents in order to clarify the accuracy of self-reported data among Australian youth. Data from the two national cross-sectional surveys, the 1995 Australian National Health Survey (NHS) and the 1995 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) were analysed to explore the influences of household income, intake of energy and fat and percentage of energy from fat on childhood obesity. The study focused on 1585 children and adolescents aged 7-15 years. These data were also used to examine the relationship of self-reported weight and height to measured weight and height in older adolescents. Additionally, another cross-sectional survey among a group of Australian primary school children from a multi-cultural school in southern Brisbane was undertaken as well as providing indicative data on the relationship of overweight/obesity to physical activity levels and ethnicity, and to provide a protocol on the methodology and practicality of measuring physical activity level in such a school setting. The results suggested that boys from households with low incomes were more likely to be overweight or obese compared with those from households with higher incomes. Having parents, especially mothers, who were overweight or obese increased the risk of children being overweight or obese. The results do not provide evidence that there are statistically significantly differences in the average intake of energy and fat and percentage of energy from fat between non-overweight and overweight or obese boys and girls. The correct classification of weight or obesity from self-reported height and weight by Australian older adolescents was about 70%, bias in reporting weight and height is higher among overweight or obese older adolescents than non-overweight counterparts. In addition, preliminary, indicative data from the pilot study on the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and physical activity in 10-12 year old Australian school children from a multi-cultural school revealed that the average daily physical activity level (PAL) was 2.3 Metabolic Equivalents (METs) when the PAL was measured using self-reported activity diary. The proportion of light, moderate and heavy PAL was 2.9%, 20.4% and 76.7% in children, respectively. Additionally no ethnic differences in the prevalence of overweight /obesity was found. There was no statistically significant difference in average daily TV view times between non-overweight and overweight or obese boys and girls. The average daily number of steps measured using pedometer in the weekdays was 16,505 in boys and 12766 in girls. Most of boys (94.0%) have a medium and over level of steps taken daily while nearly one-third of the girls had not reached the minimum level in the number of steps for optimal health. However it must be noted this school-based study was a small cross-sectional survey in a single school. The results should be viewed as indicative, not generalisable. The study does not provide any longitudinal data on physical activity patterns and the trends in relationship to body mass index. In spite of the limitations of this study, it did provide some preliminary data on PAL and its relationship to overweight/ obesity among young Australian schoolchildren from diverse cultural backgrounds. Most importantly, this pilot study has provided a protocol on the methodology and practicality of measuring physical activity levels of children using self-reported activity diaries and pedometers in a multicultural school setting. A number of strategies for the prevention and treatment of childhood overweight and obesity are discussed. In future studies, a population-based and randomly selected sample would ensure findings that are more representative of general Australian children, and the longitudinal studies would help to define the association between the risk factors and childhood obesity, as well as enabling conclusions on causality to be drawn.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 61-77).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 158-167).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-77). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-167). Also available in print.

This study explores the factors that influence the English language learning motivation of first generation immigrant students from a low socio-economic class in the city of Växjö, Sweden. Qualitative research methods are applied and semi-structured, in-depth individual as well as group interviews are used to collect the empirical data. The results indicate that students from socio-economically disadvantaged background feel excluded from the society and lack intrinsic motivation to learn English. This lack of motivation is explained in connection with their socio-economic background and the roadblocks currently existing in the Swedish education policy. The findings are analyzed using a theoretical framework consisting of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, social comparison theory and some aspects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. A concluding discussion is presented in the end.

The aim of this thesis was to better understand English as second language Nigerian children’s reading comprehension attainment, the first such study to be conducted in Nigeria. In the thesis three studies were conducted to investigate the influence of cognitive and decoding/reading skills on the children’s reading comprehension attainment, namely the preliminary study (Chapter-3) with one primary school in Nigeria, the main study (Chapter-4) with 13 state-run primary schools, and the control study (Chapter-5) including four primary schools in London, respectively. It was found that English as second language children’s reading comprehension performance is significantly influenced by cognitive, decoding and chronological age. The development of cognitive skills which is necessary for success in reading comprehension development is also dependent upon chronological age. That is, age-related increase in cognitive skills brings about increased engagement and more efficient reading comprehension attainment in the children. The normal cognitive development of the children had a positive role also on the children’s performance on language tests necessary for text comprehension. The study found that school socioeconomic background played a significant impact in the performance of Nigerian English as second language children – the better the socioeconomic background of the school the higher the reading comprehension attainment of the children. Furthermore gender was not a factor in the performance and development of reading comprehension by English as Second Language Nigerian children. This implies that parents, teachers and schools motivate and support children irrespective of being boys or girls to realise their full potentials without any discrimination. Having reviewed few theories of reading acquisition/development, the Simple view of reading (SVR) was found to be more appropriate for adoption in this study of Nigerian English as second language children’s reading comprehension attainment. The theory postulates that text comprehension is achieved when children have decoding skills and linguistic comprehension knowledge. The results obtained in Chapters 3 and 4 were in line with the Simple view of reading’s assertion – text comprehension depends on decoding and cognitive skills.

My diploma work deals with the relationship between the oral health condition of patients and their socio-economic status. The theoretical section of my work is focussed on stomatology and its division, oral cavity disorders and their treatment, prevention and prophylaxis, the distribution of teeth defects and their treatment. The practical section is based on a hypothesis. The objective of my paper consists in the evaluation of the impact of the socio-economic status of a person on his or her KPE index value. The hypothesis has been evaluated on the basis of a secondary analysis of data acquired from the case histories of patients attending a dental practice as well as on a questionnaire survey. The oral health evaluation has been supported by KPE index and the supplementary CPITN and API indexes. Goldthorp´s class diagram has been used for the purposes of the respondents´ socio-economic status evaluation. The status creating factors applied in my research have been the standard and level of education and professional training of a respondent, family income, his or her share in the power and decision sphere etc. It has been found that there is a correlation between a higher level of achieved education and professional training, a higher social status, a higher income on the one side and more favourable KPE index values as well as a better overall dental health on the other side. Primarily, the research presents the basis of my diploma work. It may also be published in a journal for stomatologists, nurses and dental hygienists. It is also aimed at internal use in the dental practice.

Background: Lower respiratory illnesses (LRIs) and asthma are common diseases in children < 5 years of age. Few studies have investigated the relationships between multiple, home-based social and environmental risk factors and asthma and LRIs in children. Of those that have, none have focused exclusively on children < 5 years of age, who are more physiologically vulnerable and spend more time at home compared to older children. Further, no studies have done so at the community level. Methods: We modeled relationships between emergency department visits and hospitalization rates for asthma and LRIs for children < 5 years and geographic risk factors, including socio-economic and housing characteristics, ambient air pollution levels, and population density in Maricopa and Pima Counties, Arizona, from 2005 to 2009. We used a generalized linear model with a negative binomial observation distribution and an offset for the population of very young children in each tract. To reduce multicollinearity among predictors, socio-economic characteristics, and ambient air pollutant levels were combined into unit-less indices using the principal components analysis (PCA). Housing characteristics variables did not exhibit moderate-to-high correlations and thus were not included in PCA. Spatial autocorrelation among regression model residuals was assessed with the Global Moran's I test. Results: Following the regression analyses, almost all predictors were significantly related to at least one disease outcome. Lower socio-economic status (SES) and reduced population density were associated with asthma hospitalization rates and both LRI outcomes (p values < 0.001). After adjusting for differences between counties, Pima County residence was associated with lower asthma and LRI hospitalization rates. No spatial autocorrelation was found among multiple regression model residuals (p values > 0.05). Conclusions: Our study revealed complex, multi-factorial associations between predictors and outcomes. Findings indicate that many rural areas with lower SES have distinct factors for childhood respiratory diseases that require further investigation. County-wide differences in maternal characteristics or agricultural land uses (not tested here) may also play a role in Pima County residence protecting against hospitalizations, when compared to Maricopa County. By better understanding this and other relationships, more focused public health interventions at the community level could be developed to reduce and better control these diseases in children < 5 years, who are more physiologically vulnerable.