Project Description:
The planned secondary data analyses will add to the existing knowledge derived from the National Survey of Child Health, which has established prevalence rates for children with chronic health conditions, disparities associated with obesity, and the relationship between identification as a child with special health care needs and school outcomes. In collaboration with Myra Rosen-Reynoso, Ph.D. at the Institute for Community Inclusion at University of Massachusetts Boston, this project will investigate prevalence of co-morbid chronic physical and mental health care needs that put youth at risk for overweight and obseity, and for poor academic performance in school, as mediated by physical activity and moderated by child, family, and neighborhood characteristics. The project will identify particular combinations of physical and mental health conditions that may have bi-directional associations, ahve implications for risk of obesity and academic outcomes, but may also be ameliorated by physical activity.