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National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion |
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CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) seeks to prevent the most serious health risk behaviors among children, adolescents and young adults. To accomplish this mission DASH implements four strategies.
CDC conducts surveillance activities to monitor six categories of priority health risk behaviors, including sexual behaviors and school health policies and programs among all 50 states. These activities are primarily conducted through CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), the School Health Profiles, and School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS).
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) provides national, state, and local level data on the prevalence of six categories of priority health risk behaviors. The YRBSS provides CDC, states, and others with vital information to more effectively target and evaluate programs. State and local education agencies use data from YRBSS to inform policymakers about the need for interventions in their jurisdictions to help young people avoid risk behaviors.
The School Health Profiles helps state and local education and health agencies monitor the current status of school health education; school health policies related to HIV infection/AIDS, tobacco use prevention, unintentional injuries and violence, physical activity, and food service; physical education; asthma management activities; and family and community involvement in school health programs. State and local education and health agencies conduct the survey biennially at the middle/junior high school and senior high school levels in their states or districts, respectively.
The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) is a national survey periodically conducted to assess school health policies and programs at the state, district, school, and classroom levels. SHPPS is used to monitor the status of the nation's school health policies and programs; describe the professional background of the personnel who deliver each component of the school health program; describe relationships between state and district policies and school health programs and practices; and identify factors that facilitate or impede delivery of effective school health programs.
CDC synthesizes research findings to identify policies and practices that are most likely to be effective in promoting healthy behaviors among young people. Research-based recommendations for school health programs are featured in a series of publications called the CDC guidelines for school health. To date, these guidelines have addressed tobacco-use prevention, promotion of healthy eating and physical activity, prevention of unintentional injuries and violence, skin cancer prevention, and AIDS education.
The guidelines are developed on the basis of an exhaustive review of published research and input from academic experts and national, federal, and voluntary organizations interested in child and adolescent health. Recommendations cover topics such as policy development, curriculum development and selection, instructional strategies, staff training, family and community involvement, evaluation, and linkages between different components of the coordinated school health program.
CDC has also synthesized research findings to develop guidance documents on helping schools to promote asthma management and ensure food-safe schools.
CDC applies research by developing tools to help practitioners in the field implement research synthesis recommendations. These tools include:
The School Health Index: A Self-Assessment and Planning Guide
The Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT), a tool to enable educators evaluate physical education curricula.
CDC funds several programs to enable its constituents to implement comprehensive adolescent and school health programs. Education agencies in 48 states, 7 territories, and 18 large cities are funded to plan, carry out, and evaluate HIV Prevention Programs. (See state, territorial, and local agencies and tribal governments). These programs provide young people with the skills and knowledge needed to avoid infection with HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases. In order to build infrastructure to support coordinated school health programs, CDC provides funds to 23 states to establish and run a statewide coordinated school health program. These programs address a range of health issues. Currently many focus on reducing chronic disease risk factors including tobacco use, poor nutrition, and physical inactivity.
CDC also provides funds to strengthen the capacity of more than 40 national nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to assist national, state, and local efforts to prevent HIV infection and other priority health problems among large populations of youth in schools, youth in high-risk situations and postsecondary students. (See national nongovernmental organizations). These NGOs work with CDC's adolescent and school health programs to develop model policies, guidelines, and training to assist schools and other youth serving agencies implement high quality programming.
CDC also provides technical assistance to state and local education agencies to help them evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their school health policies, teacher training, and curricula. CDC also conducts evaluation research to test effectiveness of school-based interventions designed to prevent HIV/STD infection and other serious health problems.
CDC's adolescent and school health program provides technical assistance in evaluation to each funded state and local education agency to help improve policy development and implementation, HIV prevention and other curriculum design, teacher training, and program impact on student outcomes. A few state and education agencies receive more intensive attention. A recent evaluation of one of the projects resulted in a more comprehensive plan for HIV/AIDS education program development. In addition, the evaluation report was used to provide feedback to administrators and teachers and gain their active participation in defining solutions to improving the county's program. CDC also conducts behavioral research studies to test the effectiveness of school-based interventions designed to prevent HIV/STD infection and other serious health problems.
| * | Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link. |
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Page last reviewed: June 8, 2007
Division of Adolescent
and School Health
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