To close achievement gap, US must address major health risks for urban minority youth, study finds

NEW YORK, March 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "Educationally relevant health disparities" are key drivers of the achievement gap, "but they are largely overlooked," Charles Basch, the Richard March Hoe Professor of Health Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, said at a recent panel discussion at the College.

Risky teen behaviors such as smoking tobacco or marijuana, not wearing seat belts and having sex neared or reached record lows last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.

A federal survey shows that Hispanic high school students use drugs and attempt suicide at higher rates than their black and white classmates. This represents the continuation of a troubling trend found in the series of surveys of U.S. high school students every two years.

By Kann, Laura Brener, Nancy D; Wechsler, Howell ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006 is the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health programs in the United States ever conducted.