Project EARTH: Lessons from 10 Years of Teaching Public Health Skills for Resource-Limited Settings.

The College of Public Health at East Tennessee State University started a program in 2011 to teach the skills needed to protect and promote health and well-being in resource-limited settings. The need to provide public health services in resource-limited settings exists in both wilderness and isolated settings and when a disaster disrupts basic societal infrastructure. In these settings, lives may depend on the ability to provide water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, first aid, and other basic services.

College students as facilitators in reducing adolescent obesity disparity in Southern Appalachia: Team Up for Healthy Living.

The proportion of obese adolescents in Southern Appalachia is among the highest in the nation. Through funding from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities--National Institutes of Health, the Team Up for Healthy Living project was a cluster-randomized trial targeting obesity prevention in adolescents through a cross-peer intervention. The specific aims of the project were to: 1) develop a peer-based health education program focusing on establishing positive peer norms towards healthy eating and physical activity (PA) among high school students, 2) test program efficacy, and 3) explore mechanisms underlying the program.

Potential approaches to address the undergraduate public health training needs for working professionals: a case study of one rural area.

The leadership of several health districts in the rural Appalachian region of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia has expressed interest in addressing the educational needs of their employees. The majority of these workers have not completed an undergraduate degree, but they desire to further their education. The College of Public Health at East Tennessee State University has begun preliminary discussions with these leaders to identify potential approaches to address these needs.

Intention for healthy eating among southern Appalachian teens.

Objective: To describe the intention for healthy eating and its correlates among southern Appalachian teens.

Methods: Four hundred sixteen adolescents 14- to 16-years-old were surveyed with self-administered questionnaires.

Results: About 30% of the adolescents surveyed had definite intentions to eat healthfully during the next 2 weeks.

Eating habits among adolescents in rural Southern Appalachia.

A survey of 274 adolescents aged 14-16 years in rural Appalachia showed that unhealthy eating habits were prevalent. A few adolescents were teased about weight whereas 20.1% witnessed weight teasing almost everyday.