American journal of preventive medicine
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Schools can support students' participation in physical activity by offering opportunities consistent with a Whole-of-School (WOS) approach; however, the extent to which physical activity opportunities are provided and how school-level characteristics associate with their use remains unclear. This study examined how elementary schools' use a WOS approach to promote physical activity, as well as associations between school-level characteristics and physical activity opportunities provided. ⋯ Studies are needed to examine disparities in physical activity practices consistent with a WOS approach to understand the implications on health, academic performance, and other key outcomes. This information can inform the development of strategies to address disparities and ensure youth have equitable access to school-based physical activity opportunities.
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Starting June 30, 2022, Google implemented its revised Inappropriate Content Advertising Policy, targeting discriminatory skin-lightening ads that suggest superiority of certain skin shades. This study evaluates the ad content changes from 2 weeks before to 2 weeks after the policy's enforcement. ⋯ The study observed changes in skin-lightening product advertisement labels from pre- to post-policy implementation, both globally and within countries. Considering the influence of digital advertising on colorist norms, assessing digital ad policy changes is crucial for public health surveillance. This study presents a computational method to help monitor digital platform policies for consumer product advertisements that affect public health.
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People with chronic pain are at increased risk of opioid misuse. Less is known about the unique risk conferred by each pain management treatment, as treatments are typically implemented together, confounding their independent effects. This study estimated the extent to which pain management treatments were associated with risk of opioid use disorder (OUD) for those with chronic pain, controlling for baseline demographic and clinical confounding variables and holding other pain management treatments at their observed levels. ⋯ Coprescription of opioids with either gabapentin or benzodiazepines may substantially increase OUD risk. More positively, physical therapy may be a relatively accessible and safe pain management strategy.
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There is much concern that substance use treatment programs are rarely integrated with smoking cessation programs. Here, the first national statistics are presented on the connection between heavy vs. light smoking and the opioid epidemic. ⋯ As nations deal with the opioid epidemic, integrating smoking cessation programs into substance abuse treatment programs appears prudent.
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National-level data suggest that gun owners in the U.S. carry concealed weapons in public at growing rates. This research investigates whether these trends are associated with state adoption of more permissive concealed carry-licensing laws between 2002 and 2019. ⋯ State-level concealed carry licensing may inform public health and safety policies as large restrictive U.S. states transition to more permissive concealed carry-licensing laws.