Search Results: MCHLine

Annotation: This paper presents a prevention model to reduce problem behavior in adolescents by identifying risk factors and protective factors in an adolescent's environment and targeting gaps between the two at all stages of the adolescent's environmental system—individual, family, peers, school, work, and community. The paper reviews current research on risk and protective factors that influence the well being of youth and suggests implications of this research for developing comprehensive community based prevention programs.

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Keywords: Adolescent behavior, Community programs, Environmental influences, Models, Prevention programs, Protective factors, Risk factors

Annotation: The main goal of this project was to improve services for infants and toddlers with disabilities (or at risk for disabililties) and for their families by developing an interstate network for early identification and intervention services for this population. Activities included a national network meeting, two regional conferences, an intensive course, small topical meetings, consultations, publications, and a newsletter. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

Keywords: American Public Welfare Association, Children's Defense Fund, Collaboration of Care, EPDST, Early Intervention, Environmental Risk, Families, Family-Based Health Care, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition, High risk infants, Networking, PL 99-457, WIC Program

Annotation: This brochure provides simple steps that families can take to make their environment healthier. Topics include label reading, noise, carbon monoxide alarms, child safety, job hazards, allergies, water pollution, lead, radon, overheating, ozone, handwashing, healthy eating, tobacco products, and sun exposure.

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Keywords: Allergies, Chemicals, Child health, Environment, Environmental exposure, Environmental health, Families, Lead poisoning, Radon, Safety, Sun exposure, Water pollution

Annotation: This toolkit provides comprehensive guidance for healthcare organizations to enhance their climate resilience planning and emergency preparedness efforts. It presents strategies, actions, tools, and resources organized around key elements including risk assessment, health equity, community engagement, infrastructure vulnerabilities, healthcare collaboration, and communications. Developed by the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity in partnership with healthcare professionals, the toolkit includes case studies of successful climate resilience initiatives at healthcare facilities across diverse settings.

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Keywords: Collaboration, Community based services, Disaster planning, Emergencies, Environmental health, Model programs, Risk management

Annotation: This blog post from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) explores public health actions that align with the preliminary report from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission. It focuses on key themes from the report, including increased consumption of ultra-processed foods, physical inactivity, and environmental exposures. The post discusses evidence-based strategies at the state and federal level to support nutrition, promote physical activity, and reduce exposure to environmental contaminants such as radon, PFAS, and lead.

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Keywords: Environmental health, Federal initiatives, Nutrition, Physical activity, Public health

Annotation: This web page features an interview with Dr. Tina Cheng regarding the evolution of the MCH life course health development framework and its application in understanding how early-life experiences and intergenerational factors shape adult health. It emphasizes the framework’s alignment with pediatrics, highlighting the significance of preconception and prenatal influences, social determinants, and the interaction between genetics and the environment. The interview, originally conducted in 2011, highlights the need for longitudinal research and "prospective medicine" to shift the medical focus from individual treatment to population-based prevention and resilience. A modern reflection by Dr. Cheng (2025) emphasizes the ongoing need for advocacy and investment in children’s health to address rising rates of obesity, mental health concerns, and chronic conditions. The site also outlines the role of the Maternal and Child Health Life Course Research Network in fostering multidisciplinary collaboration to address knowledge gaps in measurement and translational research. The interview is one the Life Course History series of six.

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• Series Site

Keywords: Child health, Environmental health, Genetics, Life Course, Maternal health, Models, Preventive health services, Research, Social determinants of health

Annotation: This website describes steps parents can take to prevent secondhand smoke exposure in the home and provides links to quite lines in multiple languages, smartphone applications, and websites containing additional information and resources.

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Keywords: Child health, Environmental exposure, Parent participation, Passive smoking, Prevention, Smoking cessation

Annotation: [This website highlights the importance of smokefree environments; explains what child health clinicians can do to help; and provides links to fact sheets, presentations, and additional implementation tools.

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Keywords: Child health, Environmental exposure, Passive smoking, Smoking

Annotation: This annual report applies a model of health to rank states across multiple measures related to the health and well-being of women of reproductive age, infants, and children. The 2023 report highlights several trends in mortality among women of reproductive age and children, including rising rates of maternal mortality, drug deaths among women and injury deaths among women and children. The 2023 report also highlights several changes that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a a drop in the percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in early childhood education and decrease in the prevalence of electronic vapor product use among high- school students.

• 2023 Full Report
• Link

Keywords: Access to health care, Child health, Environmental influences, Health behavior, Health care disparities, Health disparities, Health status, Infant health, Measures, Public policy, Racial factors, Trends, Women's health

Annotation: This website describes Maine's childhood obesity prevention program to increase physical activity and healthy eating for children from birth to age 18 through policy and environmental change. The program strives to reinforce the importance of healthy eating and physical activity by reaching families where they live, learn, work, and play. Contents include toolkits for early childhood, K-5, middle and high school, and health care and work place programs. Resources for parents and Spanish translated materials are also provided.

• Website
• 2012 Annual Report

Keywords: Adolescents, Children, Environmental influences, Families, Health policy, Maine, Nutrition, Obesity, Physical activity, Prevention programs, Public private partnerships, Spanish language materials, State initiatives

Annotation: This toolkit provides information about implementing oral health services in Washington’s rural health clinics (RHCs). It discusses assessing a community’s oral health needs and how an RHC can address these needs, procuring funding and equipment, determining a dental encounter rate, recruiting staff, collaborating with primary care and emergency services, selecting health records software, and managing costs and patient processes. Getting started, implementing a program, program impact, and looking ahead are also addressed.

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Keywords: Collaboration, Community programs, Financing, Oral health, Rural environment, Rural health, State materials, Washington

Annotation: This research brief reports the prevalence of self-reported secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in homes and vehicles among US middle and high school students in 2019 and changes in SHS over time. The data is from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (2011-2019).

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Keywords: Adolescents, Data, Environmental exposure , High school students, Middle school students, National surveys, Passive smoking, Research, Smoking, Statistics, Youth

Annotation: This chart is designed to help pregnant women and parents choose which fish to eat, and how often to eat them, based on their mercury levels. Contents include best choices (lowest levels of mercury), good choices, and choices to avoid (highest mercury levels) and the number of servings per day. A description of serving sizes for adults and young children (ages 4 to 7) is included.

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Keywords: Child development, Child health, Children, Consumer education materials, Decision making, Environmental exposures, Environmental pollution, Nutrition, Parents, Pregnant women, Reproductive hazards

Annotation: This book, designed to be used by practicing pediatricians, offers information on the role of the environment in the illnesses of childhood and adolescence. The book is organized into five sections. Section 1 offers background information including developmental toxicity, breastfeeding, how to take an environmental history, and how to do a home inventory of environmental hazards. Sections 2 and 3 focus on chemical and physical hazards and on specific environments such as child care settings, preconceptual and prenatal exposures, schools, waste sites, and workplaces. Section 4 addresses a variety of environmental situations including arts and crafts, asthma, cancer, chemical-biological terrorism, environmental disparities, multiple chemical sensitivities, antibiotics in animal agriculture, and environmental threats in developing countries. Section 5 provides information on communicating about environmental hazards. Boxes, figures, and tables present statistical and other information throughout the book. Also included are six appendices, including the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP's) policy statements and technical reports, resources for environmental health, curricula for environmental education in schools, chairs of the AAP committee on environmental health, AAP patient education materials, and more. The book concludes with an index.

• 4th Edition
• 3rd Edition

Keywords: Adolescent health, Asthma, Chemicals, Child health, Environment, Environmental exposure, Environmental health, Environmental influences, Environmental pollution, Hazards, Pediatricians, Reference materials

Annotation: This report describes trends in tobacco use and the toll of tobacco use on the health and well-being of Alaska citizens. Contents include key indicators from state data sources and trends measured from the baseline year of 1996. Topics include cigarette consumption; tobacco-related deaths and economic costs; smoking and smokeless tobacco use among adults; cigarette smoking, cigar use, and smokeless tobacco use among children and adolescents; tobacco use during pregnancy; and secondhand smoke. Information about the Alaska Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, trend tables, and data sources are also included.

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Keywords: Adolescents, Adults, Alaska, Children, Data, Environmental exposure, Pregnant women, Prevention programs, Smokeless tobacco, Smoking, State programs, Tobacco use, Trends

Annotation: This paper summarizes epidemiology reports and other evidence of drinking fountain-related health issues to reveal the extent of the problem and explores changes needed to improve the quality and use of this hydration option. Topics include a brief history of water fountains, evidence of contamination at water fountains such as microbial and heavy metal contamination, the Safe Drinking Water Act and national drinking water standards, and guidelines for cleaning and maintaining drinking water fountains. The paper concludes with a discussion of efforts needed to expand the science and practice of ensuring that drinking fountains remain clean, safe, and accessible.

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Keywords: Community base services, Environmental exposure, Federal legislation, Guidelines, Policy development, Public health infrastructure, Regulations, Safety, Standards, Water, Water pollution

Annotation: This report presents findings from an analysis of housing disclosure policies of all U.S. states and the District of Columbia according to their ability to help homebuyers make informed decisions about lead service lines before they sign a sales contract. Contents include information about lead in drinking water and why reducing exposure to lead is important, property disclosures, variation and limitations of state requirements, and conclusions. State disclosure requirements are included in the appendix.

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Keywords: Decision making, Environmental health, Housing, Lead, Policy analysis, Public policy, Safety, State legislation, Water

Annotation: This paper provides information about initiating interprofessional networks that integrate and coordinate person-centered oral health care in rural communities. Topics include oral health as a national issue with rural implications, interprofessional practice and the oral-systemic health connection, creating networks and a learning collaborative, state offices of rural health and medicaloral expanded care initiation, and challenges and opportunities for innovation. Examples from Colorado, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina are included.

• Full Report
• Executive Summary

Keywords: Collaboration, Colorado, Community based services, Health care delivery, Information systems, Oral health, Oral health care, Pennsylvania, Program coordination, Provider networks, Rural environment, Rural health, Rural population, Service integration, South Carolina, State initiatives, Systems development, Technology, Work force

Annotation: This document presents the results of a comprehensive evaluation of the physical activity levels and the indicators influencing physical activity of children and youth in the United States. Contents include the methodology, abbreviations and definitions, benefits and guidelines for routine physical activity, and a summary of indicators and grades. Topics include overall physical activity, sedentary behaviors, active transportation, organized sport participation, active play, health-related fitness, family and peers, school, community and the built environment, and government strategies and investments. Data sources and references are included.

• Full Report
• Executive Summary

Keywords: Adolescents, Children, Environmental influences, Health behaviors, Health policy, Physical activity, Statistical data

Annotation: This toolkit provides resources on indoor environmental quality and children's health and ways to improve the school environment. Contents include a sample op-ed, information on buying healthy products, an indoor air quality and pest management checklist, a green cleaning checklist, a guide for parents on lead in school drinking water, and a guide on disinfecting wipes. Additional contents include research, federal resources, a position statement, and policy recommendations.

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Keywords: Community action, Environmental exposure, Environmental health, Hazards, Prevention, Resources for professionals, Risk factors, Safety, School age children, School health, Schools