American journal of preventive medicine
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The U.S. population has shown increasing rates of overweight and obesity in recent years, but similar analyses do not exist for U.S. military personnel. It is important to understand these patterns in the military because of their impact on fitness and readiness. ⋯ Combined overweight and obesity in active duty personnel rose to more than 60% between 1995 and 2008, primarily because of increased obesity. The high prevalence of overweight and obesity needs attention and has implications for Department of Defense efforts to improve the health, fitness, readiness, and quality of life of the Active Forces.
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Health information technology is an emerging area of focus in clinical medicine with the potential to improve injury and violence prevention practice. With injuries being the leading cause of death for Americans aged 1-44 years, greater implementation of evidence-based preventive services, referral to community resources, and real-time surveillance of emerging threats is needed. Through a review of the literature and capturing of current practice in the field, this paper showcases how health information technology applied to injury and violence prevention can lead to strengthened clinical preventive services, more rigorous measurement of clinical outcomes, and improved injury surveillance, potentially resulting in health improvement.
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Skin cancer, the most common cancer in the U.S., is a major public health problem. The incidence of nonmelanoma and melanoma skin cancer is increasing; however, little is known about the economic burden of treatment. ⋯ These findings demonstrate that the health and economic burden of skin cancer treatment is substantial and increasing. Such findings highlight the importance of skin cancer prevention efforts, which may result in future savings to the healthcare system.
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Given the increase in childhood food allergy, national and local policies have been developed to encourage schools to stock undesignated epinephrine auto-injectors in case of an anaphylactic emergency. ⋯ Chicago Public Schools is the first large, urban school district in the U.S. to develop and implement the District-Issued Emergency Epinephrine Initiative, which helped 38 students and staff avoid potential morbidity and mortality. The impact of this initiative during its first year underscores the need for stocking undesignated epinephrine in schools across the country.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Twelve-month physical activity outcomes in Latinas in the Seamos Saludables trial.
Physical activity interventions designed for Latinas have shown short-term behavior change, but longer-term change and maintenance is rarely measured. ⋯ The intervention was more effective than the wellness control at 12 months, and physical activity increases from baseline to 6 months were maintained, suggesting the intervention may lead to sustainable behavior change.