Choking on a 'large' object: applications for regulation and practice.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A F Meyers.
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To test the hypothesis that participation in the School Breakfast Program by low-income children is associated with improvements in standardized achievement test scores and in rates of absence and tardiness, children in grades 3 through 6 were studied in the Lawrence, Mass, public schools, where the School Breakfast Program was begun at the start of the second semester 1986-1987 school year. The changes in scores on a standardized achievement test and in rates of absence and tardiness before and after the implementation of the School Breakfast Program for children participating in the program were compared with those of children who also qualified but did not participate. Controlling for other factors, participation in the School Breakfast Program contributed positively to the 1987 Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills battery total scale score and negatively to 1987 tardiness and absence rates. These findings suggest that participation in the School Breakfast Program is associated with significant improvements in academic functioning among low-income elementary school children.
In order to characterize the children who enter emergency shelters in Boston, we reviewed the data collected at intake interviews by the pediatric nurse practitioner visiting 10 family shelters and one hotel in Boston as part of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Project. Families were interviewed soon after their entry into the shelter. Children were weighed and measured, and the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) was administered. From November 1986 to November 1987, 133 families with 213 children were interviewed. Ninety-four percent of the children were in the care of their mothers, and 92 percent were younger than 5 years of age. Sixty-five percent of the families were black, 20 percent were white, and 11 percent were Hispanic. Eighty-nine percent of the families were receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits, 90 percent were receiving Medicaid benefits, 72 percent were receiving food stamps, and 52 percent were receiving benefits under the Special Supplement Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Eighty-five percent of the children were reported to have a regular source of primary pediatric care, and 23 percent were reported to have medical problems. Weight-for-age, weight-for-height, and height-for-age measurements were similar to those reported for national samples of low income children. Ten children (4.7 percent) were found to have abnormal or questionable DDST examinations.