Public Health Commons^™

A Wellness Profile Of Student-Veterans At 4-Year Higher Education Institutions: The Role Of Gender, Combat Tours, And Deployment, William Monroe Heath

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Afghanistan and Iraq war student-veterans have increased in population on college campuses in the United States (U.S.) as a result of using the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Healthy Campus 2020 (American College Health Association, 2012) highlighted the importance of college student wellbeing, health promotion and disease prevention, while the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs has called for an approach to services that is strength based (United States Department of Veteran Affairs, 2008). To date, however, wellness studies conducted on Iraq and Afghanistan student-veterans using an evidenced-based model of holistic wellness have not been conducted. This study was designed to address …

Power To The People? An Evaluation Of State-Level Environmental Justice Policies, Angela Michelle Hines

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Communities of color in America lacking economical, educational, and political power have been largely invisible in the process of making major policy decisions. This is lack of access to decision-making venues has been viewed by many as the reason behind marginalized populations bearing the brunt of many societal burdens. The Environmental Justice Movement legitimized the claims of inadequate access to the decision-making process concerning environmental conditions in which African-Americans lived and worked. Through the use of disruptive actions reminiscent of those used throughout the Civil Rights Movement, the plight of communities plagued by the daily presence of hazardous waste gained …

The Effect Of School And Neighborhood Environmental Factors On Childhood Obesity, Yiwei Qian

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation consists of three chapters exploring the effect of school program and neighborhood environment on childhood obesity outcome using individual panel data set of Arkansas public schoolchildren.

The first chapter (Section 2) investigates how the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), a program that provides funding for the distribution of free fresh fruits and vegetables to students in participating schools, affects childhood obesity. We combine matching methodology and difference-in-differences analysis to estimate the effect of the FFVP on childhood BMI outcomes. Estimates of the FFVP effect are sensitive to different matching methods. Methods that provide a good balance between …

The Impact Of Body Image On Women In Later Life: Effects On Quality Of Life And Body Perception, Rachel L. Avants

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Physical, mental, and emotional changes can occur throughout the aging process, making it important to treat different age groups as separate populations when researching body image. Yet, very few instruments have been validated for middle-aged and older adults. An online survey was used to perform a validation of the Body Image Quality of Life Inventory (BIQLI) and examine demographic relationships, with a sample of 947 women, ages 40-79, from across the United States. A principal component analysis (PCA) and convergent validity supported the use of the BIQLI for women ages 40 to 79. A one-factor model was validated for comparing …