Family meals and diet quality among children and adolescents in North Carolina.

Objective: To examine the relationship between diet quality and frequency of family meals throughout childhood and adolescence.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of children ages birth through 17 years (n = 1,992) using data from the 2010 North Carolina Child Health and Monitoring Program. Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the associations between family meals and fruit intake, vegetable intake, and sugar-sweetened beverage intake among younger children, older children, and adolescents.

Intimate partner violence exposure in early childhood: an ecobiodevelopmental perspective.

Approximately 15.5 million children in the United States reside in households in which interpersonal violence is recurrent. Young children are more likely than older children to be present in the home when violence between adults occurs.

Do preschool programs affect social disadvantage? What social workers should know.

The majority of children from lower income families enter elementary school well behind their peers in reading, math, and general knowledge. Poor academic achievement in the early grades is associated with a range of social problems such as failure to complete high school, increased risk of unintended pregnancy, increased criminal activity, and insufficient wages. There has been a steady increase in the number of publicly funded preschool programs designed to help children from a range of disadvantaged backgrounds develop school readiness skills.