March Awareness Campaigns: Breakfast, Diabetes, Inhalants

Several important children’s health observances take place this month. Following are highlights, along with related data from kidsdata.org.

National School Breakfast Week was March 7 – 11. In California, 2006-’08 data show that students in 7th grade are more likely than 9th and 11th graders to say they ate breakfast that morning. Among 7th and 9th graders, boys are more likely than girls to say that they ate breakfast that morning. These data also show that Asian American and Caucasian/White students were most likely to say they ate breakfast (66% and 65%, respectively), while African American (53%) and Latino students (55%) were least likely to report having eaten breakfast.

The American Diabetes Alert Day which took place March 22, challenges all Americans to explore their risk for developing type 2 diabetes by taking the proper preventive health tests. According to 2005-06 data, 1% of California children with special care needs have diabetes.

Inhalants Prevention Week is this week (March 20-26) and aims to increase understanding about the use and risks of inhalants. Although most 7th, 9th, and 11th graders in California in 2006-08 said they had never used an inhalant, 5.8% of 9th-grade girls and 4.9% of 9th-grade boys reported using an inhalant 4 or more times. Students who report feeling less connected to their school also have higher levels of inhalant use.

Tags: Health Observances

Posted by kidsdata.org

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