Assessing the impact of the primary school-based nutrition intervention Petits cuistots--parents en réseaux.

Objectives: This study sought to provide an intermediate impact assessment of the nutrition intervention Petits cuistots--parents en réseaux (Little Cooks--Parental Networks) on: 1) knowledge, attitude, capacity and experience with regard to nutrition, diet and cookery, and 2) parental and/or family participation in school.

Participants: A total of 388 students from grades 5 (participants) and 6 (non-participants).

Setting: The evaluation of the nutrition intervention took place in each of the seven participating elementary schools, all of which are located in Montreal's most disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Value-added education and smoking uptake in schools: a cohort study.

Aim: To show that schools achieving higher examination pass and lower truancy rates than expected, given that their pupil populations (high value-added schools) are associated with a lower incidence of smoking among pupils (13-14 years).

Design: Value-added scores for schools were derived from standardized residuals of two regression equations predicting separately the proportion of pupils passing high school diplomas and the half-days lost to truancy from the socio-economic and ethnic profiles of pupils. The risk of regular smoking at 1- and 2-year follow-up was examined in relation to the value-added score in a cohort of 8352 UK pupils.