University Students Implement a Nutrition and Cooking Education Curriculum With Fidelity.

Objective: To assess the ability of trained university students to implement Cooking Matters for Kids, a hands-on nutrition and cooking education curriculum for third through fifth-grade children.

Methods: Process evaluation data were collected from 6 Cooking Matters for Kids courses led by university students in the fall of 2019 and spring of 2020 at 6 afterschool programs in Orange County, North Carolina. Trained research assistants observed lessons and reported whether key intervention components were implemented as planned, the level of participant engagement, what worked well, and what could be improved on.

Parenting Concerns, Psychological Distress, and Relationship Adjustment Among Patients With Cancer and Their Partners: A Longitudinal Study.

Objective: Studies have found that cancer patients with dependent children exhibit high symptoms of anxiety, depression, and worry. Patients' parenting concerns can negatively impact their own and their family's adjustment to the cancer experience. However, relatively little is known about parenting concerns of partners of cancer patients, or associations between parenting concerns and couples' relationship adjustment.

Community Engagement in the BE SAGE Project: Reducing COVID-19 in Hispanic and Low-Income Preschoolers via Testing and Open-Air Garden-Based Education.

Objective: Back to Early Care and Education Safely With Sustainability via Active Garden Education (BE SAGE) involved COVID-19 testing and a free garden-based physical activity and nutrition program at early care and education centers with primarily Hispanic/Latino enrollment. This article describes the project community engagement plan, process, and outcomes focusing on deliberate and intentional staffing, an extensive online presence, and focused outreach.

Methods: BE SAGE purposefully hired bilingual (English/Spanish) and bicultural staff; developed and maintained a large bilingual online presence (website, newsletters, social media), and fostered community partnerships with community health workers (CHWs) and dedicated staff.

Challenges and barriers to WIC participation vary by participation status and language: Findings from focus groups in Missouri.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is one of the largest federal food and nutrition program serving women and young children and has a low coverage rate of about 50 percent. There is no peer-reviewed article that compares maternal perceptions of challenges and barriers to WIC participation by language and participation status. We compare challenges and barriers faced by English-speaking mothers to those faced by Spanish-speaking mothers to enrollment and retention in WIC within each group: current participants (n = 43), prior participants (dropouts; n = 27), and eligible non-participants (n = 18), using focus groups we conducted in Missouri in 2021-2023.

Early Language, Social Communication, and Autism Characteristics of Young Toddlers at Elevated Likelihood for Autism Identified by the First Years Inventory-Lite.

Purpose: The purposes of this article were (a) to compare the developmental skills of toddlers whose scores on the First Years Inventory-Lite (FYI-Lite), an early screening tool, indicated an elevated likelihood of a later diagnosis of autism (ELA) to the developmental skills of toddlers at a lower likelihood of a later diagnosis of autism (LLA) and (b) to examine how autism characteristics are correlated with communication measures in toddlers at an ELA.

Method: We assessed the language, social communication (SC) skills, and characteristics of autism demonstrated by 45 toddlers at an ELA and 37 toddlers at an LLA between the ages of 11 and 18 months and compared group scores on these measures. We also examined the correlations between the characteristics of autism and language measures within the ELA group.

Characterizing Drug use Typologies and Their Association with Sexual Risk Behaviors: A Latent Class Analysis Among Men who have Sex with Men in Mexico.

Introduction: Drug use behaviors are closely associated with increased risk for HIV and other STIs among men who have sex with men (MSM) globally. Less is known about the drug use characteristics and their association with HIV/STI risk among MSM in Mexico, who have 13 times higher risk of acquiring HIV than the general population. We characterized distinct classes of drug use behaviors among a nationwide sample of MSM in Mexico and tested their associations with HIV risk behaviors.

Evaluation and lessons learned from the dissemination and implementation science scholars program in the national cancer prevention and control research network.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) has been a leader in cancer-related dissemination & implementation (D&I) science. Given increased demand for D&I research, the CPCRN Scholars Program launched in 2021 to expand the number of practitioners, researchers, and trainees proficient in cancer D&I science methods.

Methods: The evaluation was informed by a logic model and data collected through electronic surveys.

Centralized Colorectal Cancer Screening Outreach in Federally Qualified Health Centers: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is effective but remains underused in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs).

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a centralized CRC screening outreach intervention involving mailed fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) outreach and patient navigation to colonoscopy after abnormal results of FIT.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A pragmatic randomized clinical trial was conducted, using intention-to-treat analysis.

Promotion of Muscle-Strengthening Activity Among Latina and Black/African American Women: A Review of Literature.

Latina and Black/African American (AA) women report disproportionately low levels of muscle-strengthening activities (MSA) and high rates of related chronic health conditions. Despite the health benefits of MSA, physical activity intervention research in these populations has focused mostly on increasing aerobic physical activity. The purpose of this review was to describe the current state of scientific literature on MSA interventions among Latina and Black/AA women.

Association between total, regional and organ fat and type 2 diabetes risk factors among Latino youth: A longitudinal study.

Introduction: To examine whether within-person changes in total, regional and organ fat were associated with within-person changes in type 2 diabetes (T2D)-related biomarkers following interventions.

Methods: A secondary analysis from a randomised trial among Latino youth (30 males, 25 females) aged 12-16 years with obesity. The study sample combined participants randomised to either lifestyle intervention (N = 39) or usual care (N = 16).

Results of a pilot sequential multiple assignment randomized trial using counseling to augment a digital weight loss program.

Objective: Adaptive interventions may improve the potency and scalability of behavioral weight loss interventions, but the treatments-or treatment combinations-that should be offered are unknown. A two-stage pilot sequential multiple assignment randomized trial was used to test the timing and dose of human support added to a core digital weight loss program.

Methods: In stage 1, 99 adults with overweight/obesity were randomized at baseline to a kick-off with or without additional human support.

Physical activity and symmetry following total knee arthroplasty: Results of a pilot randomized trial.

Objective: This pilot trial examined a Physical Activity and Symmetry (PAS) intervention focused on common deficits of physical inactivity and joint loading asymmetry following total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Design: Participants (n ​= ​60) were enrolled during routine physical therapy (PT) following TKA and randomized to the PAS intervention or an attention (ATT) control group. The PAS intervention included physical activity counseling and balance exercise to address joint loading symmetry; content was delivered during 2 sessions at the end of routine PT plus supplemental sessions 4-weeks and 8-weeks following PT.

Purified diets containing high levels of soluble fiber and grain-based diets promote similar gastrointestinal morphometry yet distinct microbial communities.

Unlabelled: Dietary fibers play a crucial role in shaping the gut microbiome and influencing gastrointestinal (GI) physiology. Grain-based diets (GBDs) are widely used in rodent studies, but their utility is limited due to batch-to-batch variability resulting from inconsistent ingredients. Purified diets (PDs) are composed of only known and refined ingredients and offer a solution to the constraints of GBDs.

Regulatory Landscape of Cannabis Warning Labels in US States with Legal Retail Nonmedical Cannabis, 2024.

To characterize regulatory practices related to nonmedical cannabis warning labels in states across the United States that have legalized retail nonmedical cannabis. In March 2024, we conducted a content analysis of regulations for nonmedical cannabis warning labels required on product packages in 20 states where, as of March 2024, adults could legally purchase nonmedical cannabis in retail environments. For each state, we examined requirements related to warning label content and characteristics.

Impact of observability period on the classification of COPD diagnosis timing among Medicare beneficiaries with lung cancer.

Background: Investigators often use claims data to estimate the diagnosis timing of chronic conditions. However, misclassification of chronic conditions is common due to variability in healthcare utilization and in claims history across patients.

Objective: We aimed to quantify the effect of various Medicare fee-for-service continuous enrollment period and lookback period (LBP) on misclassification of COPD and sample size.

Relationship between social capital and post-partum antiretroviral therapy adherence among women living with HIV in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Background: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is crucial for preventing vertical transmission of HIV and maternal deaths. While the literature is replete with studies on ART adherence, the role of social capital in adherence to ART is less studied. Drawing from the social cognitive theory, this study examines the relationship between social capital and post-partum adherence to ART.

School Meal Charge Policies Lack Consistency.

This report discusses school meal charge policies nationwide, with an in-depth look at the contents of these policies in North Carolina. The US Department of Agriculture requires school districts to have policies related to unpaid school meal charges; however, there are no specific requirements for what must be included in these policies. School meal charge policies vary across North Carolina and the US.

Aortic-Femoral Stiffness Gradient and Cardiovascular Risk in Older Adults.

Background: The aortic-femoral arterial stiffness gradient, calculated as the ratio of lower-limb pulse-wave velocity (PWV) to central (aortic) PWV, is a promising tool for assessing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, but whether it predicts incident CVD is unknown.

Methods: We examined the association of the aortic-femoral arterial stiffness gradient measures carotid-femoral stiffness gradient (femoral-ankle PWV divided by carotid-femoral PWV) and the heart-femoral stiffness gradient (femoral-ankle PWV divided by heart-femoral PWV), as well as PWV, with incident CVD (coronary disease, stroke, and heart failure) and all-cause mortality among 3109 participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study cohort (age, 75±5 years; carotid-femoral PWV, 11.5±3.

Technology-Based Interventions to Promote Diabetes Self-Management Behaviors for Persons Newly Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes: A Scoping Review.

Purpose Of Review: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) management is complex and requires daily personal involvement and self-management skills to maintain optimal glycemic levels and improve health outcomes. Engagement in self-management behaviors in the early years of diagnosis can be challenging due to prevailing psychosocial factors present during this critical transition period, coupled with a lack of information, support, and skills. Technology-based diabetes self-management interventions can improve access to needed education and support, and their effectiveness in the general T2D population is well documented.

Community-engaged implementation of a safety bundle for pregnancy-related severe hypertension in the outpatient setting: protocol for a type 3 hybrid study with a multiple baseline design.

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are among the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity in the U.S., with rates highest among birthing people who are Black, rural residents, and/or have low-income.

Calculation and Comparison of Step Guidelines for Preschooler Physical Activity While Indoors.

Objectives: Preschooler physical activity (PA) is vital for growth and development. The World Health Organization PA guidelines state preschoolers should achieve ≥ 180 min/day of Total PA (TPA) of which ≥ 60 min is moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). A step/day recommendation to match these guidelines may be a more practical metric for caregivers to promote PA.

Awareness, experiences, and beliefs related to ultra-processed foods among young people in Cebu, Philippines.

Ultra-processed food (UPF) intake is rising in low- and middle-income countries, where non-communicable diseases are now the leading contributor to disease burden. The purpose of this study was to assess awareness and knowledge of UPFs, factors that influence consumption of UPFs, and beliefs about the relationship between UPF intake and health among young people (18-20 years old) in a metropolitan area of the Philippines, a lower middle-income country. We conducted eight focus group discussions across four strata defined by gender and urban-rural neighborhood designation.

The American Cancer Society National Lung Cancer Roundtable strategic plan: Implementation of high-quality lung cancer screening.

More than a decade has passed since researchers in the Early Lung Cancer Action Project and the National Lung Screening Trial demonstrated the ability to save lives of high-risk individuals from lung cancer through regular screening by low dose computed tomography scan. The emergence of the most recent findings in the Dutch-Belgian lung-cancer screening trial (Nederlands-Leuvens Longkanker Screenings Onderzoek [NELSON]) further strengthens and expands on this evidence. These studies demonstrate the benefit of integrating lung cancer screening into clinical practice, yet lung cancer continues to lead cancer mortality rates in the United States.