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President Herbert Hoover said, “Children are our most valuable natural resource.” Yet, many of America’s children and adolescents are facing tremendous challenges. Poverty, neglect, abuse, and other adverse experiences are part of numerous youth’s daily lives. Maladaptive coping strategies, including substance use, risky sexual behaviors, and overeating, are common, leading to increased health risks later in life. Problems like obesity and type 2 diabetes, which were once unheard of among this age group, are now increasingly widespread. There is evidence that these problems may be worse in rural areas.
Current Work
We are working on innovative projects and technology solutions to support program and policy change, leading to improved health of West Texas children.
- One such project is an Internet-based student health records system, which will provide rural school districts with a tool that dramatically improves the planning, management, and delivery of student health services. It is currently being piloted with 700 students in a school district in rural Central Texas; dissemination throughout West Texas is in the planning stage.
- Another such project was with the Texas Pediatric Society in which we worked with pediatricians across the state in creating a continuing education course video to standardize the medical community's tracking, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric obesity.
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