Search Results (593)

Air pollution poses a major health risk, particularly in children, who spend considerable time in school. We monitored air pollution in school environments and investigated its impact on cardiovascular and neurocognitive outcomes. Seven elementary schools in Antwerp, Belgium, including one open-air school, participated in a longitudinal study. Indoor and outdoor particulate matter (PM) and outdoor NO₂ concentrations were measured. Endothelial function and attentional outcomes were assessed repeatedly (n = 3) in 138 healthy children (mean age of 10.3 ± 0.5 years, 55.8% male). Mixed effect models were used to investigate the association between PM and NO₂ exposure and endothelial and attentional outcomes. This study considered median PM concentrations during the 4 h of the study visits (direct exposure), those during the 24 h (acute exposure) and 1 week preceding the study visits (recent exposure), and monthly NO₂ concentrations. Models were adjusted for sex, age, BMI-z, and visit. Increased direct (4 h) indoor PM exposure was associated with reduced microvascular dilatation, while selective and sustained attention improved with direct and recent PM exposure, respectively. No associations were found with NO₂. Exclusion of the open-air school slightly altered the findings. Larger longitudinal studies with improved exposure assessment are needed to clarify the effects of PM exposure and the influence of (open-air) school environments on children’s learning and development. Full article

Education for sustainability should connect planetary environmental change with local place, cultural meaning, and feasible collective action. Yet inclusive arts-based ocean-literacy education remains underexamined, especially for children from migrant backgrounds. This study examines Gyeongju Sea Rescue Team: Protecting the Sea through Minhwa, a five-session programme for elementary-school children from Koryoin and other migrant-background families in South Korea. A provenance-separated dual-strand design combined hybrid thematic analysis of programme documents and non-identifying artwork images with a fully synthetic 100-case corpus used only to audit a future artwork-elicitation protocol and codebook. The documentary strand identified four provisional mechanisms: the ecological reinterpretation of auspicious symbols, localisation through Gyeongju’s maritime heritage, multimodal participation across linguistic differences, and collective stewardship. The synthetic audit did not validate these mechanisms or programme outcomes. Instead, participant-correction and self-action prompts generated more clearly codable material on agency, cultural identity, multilingual meaning-making, and intercultural integration. Two designed perturbation passes yielded a quadratic-weighted kappa of 0.726 as a within-corpus stability diagnostic rather than human intercoder reliability. Diagnostic cases exposed adult projection, assimilationist interpretation, pressure to disclose private meanings, and advice without self-agency. The article proposes a provisional MIOL framework and four safeguards: child-led interpretation, reciprocal cultural exchange, appropriate consent and permissions, and continuity from symbolic expression to sustained action. Synthetic outputs concern method development only and do not represent children’s experiences or programme effectiveness. Full article

Women and Hispanic people in the United States (U.S.) are underrepresented in many physical science and engineering fields, despite higher representation in life science fields. This study examines how science topic (physical vs. life science) influences the role that parents play in the development of their elementary school-age (fourth grade) children’s science-related interests, attitudes, and problem-solving strategies, including differences related to parent and child ethnicity (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) and gender. The participants were 153 girls and boys in fourth grade and their parents in the Phoenix metropolitan area of the United States. Each parent–child dyad’s behaviors as they completed hands-on physical science and life science activities together were examined. Parents and children were more talkative during physical science activities than during life science activities (for parents M = 13.70, SD = 54.99, p = 0.004, and for children M = 20.88, SD = 34.93, p < 0.001), where M = the difference between the number of utterances during physical versus life science problems. In addition, parents provided more explanations/answers, asked more questions to prompt their children, and asked more questions about their child’s understanding during physical science activities as compared to life science activities. Regarding problem-solving strategies, the dyads used their existing knowledge/experience more during physical science activities, whereas they used assumptions more during life science activities. Interactions that occurred between topic and ethnicity or gender, and implications for representation of women and Hispanic students in physical versus life science majors in later years, are also presented. Full article

Physical activity may be related to self-reported academic achievement among rural left-behind children, but the psychological processes associated with this relationship remain unclear. This cross-sectional study examined the association between physical activity and self-reported academic achievement and tested the indirect roles of character strengths and self-control. A total of 450 rural left-behind children completed the Physical Activity Rating Scale, the Character Strengths Scale for Chinese Elementary and Middle Schools, the Academic Achievement Self-Assessment Scale, and the Dual-System Scale for Adolescent Self-Control. Pearson correlation and serial mediation analyses were conducted. Physical activity, character strengths, self-control, and self-reported academic achievement were positively correlated. Physical activity was positively associated with self-reported academic achievement, and the indirect effects through character strengths and self-control were significant both separately and sequentially. These findings suggest that character strengths and self-control may help explain the association between physical activity and self-reported academic achievement. Because the data were cross-sectional and self-reported, causal and temporal conclusions cannot be drawn. Full article

In the last several years, reading comprehension has declined during elementary school in the U.S. Are cell phones to blame? There is a dearth of evidence concerning the cell phone impact on reading comprehension at the elementary school level. Our primary question was whether acquisition of a phone would be negatively related to the reading comprehension performance of third- and sixth-grade children. More specifically, would notifications or the mere presence of a phone reduce the concentration required for an optimal reading comprehension performance? Among 106 children, we studied 55 children in a sixth-grade group and 51 children in a third-grade group. The sample was linguistically diverse: English was the home language for 42%, Arabic for 30%, and Spanish for 28%. The experimental procedure used a repeated-measures design: Participants who brought phones to school the day of the study took a grade-appropriate reading comprehension test from the DIBELS 8th edition with their phone next to them and a different test from the same battery without their phone nearby or in sight. Participants who did not have a phone with them also took two reading comprehension tests from the DIBELS 8th edition; they were the same tests taken by participants in the experimental portion of the study who had phones with them. All participants completed a short survey about phone ownership and use, along with demographic questions. There was no effect of the experimental conditions on reading comprehension: Whether or not a child had their phone in sight made no difference to their reading comprehension performance. Nor did reading comprehension differ for students with or without phones at school the day of the study. This absence of short-term effects contrasted with the presence of long-term relationships: Possessing a personal cell phone was significantly associated with lower reading comprehension scores across the whole sample. However, for participants from non-English-speaking homes who had their own phones, reading comprehension was significantly better the earlier a child began texting and had access to games on their phone. For children from English-speaking homes who had their own phones, neither early mobile game access nor earlier initiation of texting was associated with better reading comprehension. Full article

Education about AI, including its opportunities and limitations, is essential for responsible academic development. It helps students, teachers, parents, researchers and practitioners understand both the strengths and the limitations of generative AI and ensures that it is applied in ways that are ethical and socially responsible. Without this knowledge, there is a risk that generative AI will be misused or misunderstood, reducing its potential benefits. This study evaluates an educational game designed to integrate generative AI in elementary education (in art lessons), aiming to create awareness regarding the limitations of generative AI. Data was collected from 204 game sessions in two primary education schools in Greece, using serious games for art education, while the accuracy of AI outputs and the usability and level of user satisfaction were recorded. Following these tasks, researchers used the concurrent think-aloud (CTA) protocol to identify specific usability issues and responses of elementary students in biased, incomplete or inaccurate AI results. Experimental findings from this small-scale exploratory pilot study (16 students) indicated that combining RTA with serious games in art courses successfully reveal how children understand AI outputs and evaluate them based on their initial expectations. Full article

Playground safety for preschool and early elementary school children has become an increasingly important issue for families and local communities. In semi-open playground environments, direct supervision by caregivers is often difficult, while conventional positioning approaches may be costly, infrastructure-dependent, or unreliable due to frequent signal obstructions. This study presents an integrated low-cost monitoring system that combines commercial BLE beacons, a single smart device installed in the playground, a push-notification server, and a caregiver smartphone application to detect children’s entrance and exit events and visualize their playground usage logs. Rather than proposing a new localization algorithm, the main contribution of this work is the practical system integration and field validation of BLE-based entrance/exit detection in semi-open playground settings. The smart device continuously scans beacon RSSI values, applies Kalman-filter-based smoothing and threshold-based state transitions, and transmits detected events to the server, where daily, weekly, and monthly statistics are generated and visualized for caregivers. Field experiments conducted at five real playgrounds showed that the proposed system achieved over 99% entrance/exit detection accuracy with an average response time of less than 7 s. These results demonstrate that reliable playground entry/exit monitoring can be implemented at low cost, with simple infrastructure and practical deployment in residential environments. Full article

Background/Objectives: School-aged children in Japan receive food and nutrition education (shokuiku) to promote well-balanced dietary habits. However, among high school students, the association between current well-balanced diets and shokuiku during elementary school years has not been analysed. Herein, we examined the associations between recollections of shokuiku during childhood, current well-balanced dietary habits, and eating and lifestyle behaviours among Japanese high school students, with a particular focus on sex differences. Methods: Overall, 254 second-year high school students (56.3% female) at a public high school in the Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, were included. A hypothetical model was constructed using factors potentially associated with well-balanced dietary habits (i.e., consumption of balanced meals at least twice daily), including recollections of shokuiku during elementary school (education on nutritional balance based on the ‘three food groups’, major nutrients’ role, and breakfast importance) and current eating and lifestyle behaviours. Simultaneous sex-based multi-population analysis was performed. Results: The model demonstrated good fit (GFI = 0.944, AGFI = 0.903, CFI = 0.982, RMSEA = 0.036, and AIC = 145.174). Among female students, current well-balanced dietary habits showed significant positive associations with shokuiku (standardised estimate, female: 0.22, p = 0.005 vs. male: −0.07, p = 0.46), frequency of rice consumption (0.22, p = 0.016 vs. 0.13, p = 0.15), and eating meals with family (0.22, p = 0.003 vs. 0.36, p < 0.001). Conversely, bedtime (−0.28, p < 0.001 vs. −0.03, p = 0.72) showed a significant negative association. Among male students, only eating meals with family showed a significant positive association with current well-balanced dietary habits. Conclusions: Current well-balanced dietary habits among female high school students may be positively associated with shokuiku. Eating rice and meals with family was conducive to well-balanced dietary habits, unlike late bedtime. Full article

Background/Objectives: Foods and beverages consumed during school lunch periods contribute substantially to children’s dietary intake; however, Canadian evidence of their nutritional contribution and quality remains limited. This study assessed nutrient content, nutrient density, and contributions to dietary recommendations among Saskatchewan elementary students. Methods: A descriptive quantitative study was conducted among 379 students aged 5–13. Dietary intake during school lunch periods was assessed using a photography-assisted plate waste method. Nutrient content was estimated using standard nutrient databases, nutrient density was evaluated using the Nutrient-Rich Food (NRF) 9.3 Index, and contributions to dietary recommendations were examined. Results: Median lunch energy was 411.4 kcal (IQR: 296.7), and the mean NRF 9.3 score was 292.6 (SD: 130.7). Compared with home-packed and mixed lunches, school-provided lunches contained less energy, carbohydrate, fat, and sugar, while protein was similar across lunch types. Overall, lunches contributed <25% of daily requirements for key nutrients, including fibre, vitamin D, calcium, and potassium. Older students had lower proportional nutrient contributions relative to their higher nutritional requirements. Nutrient density differed by lunch provenance, but not by age or reported gender, with school-provided lunches achieving the highest NRF 9.3 scores. Conclusions: Lunches contributed modestly to daily nutrient requirements, particularly among older students. In this sample, school-provided lunches were associated with higher nutrient density than home-packed lunches, although their absolute contributions to several nutrients remained limited. These findings provide baseline evidence on lunches consumed during school lunch periods among Saskatchewan elementary students and may inform future evaluations of school food systems and policies. Full article

Background: Childhood malnutrition, manifesting as both underweight and obesity, is a global health concern with potential repercussions on neurodevelopment and metabolic health. Objective: To analyze the relationship between nutritional status, metabolic biomarkers, and cognitive performance in school-aged children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 100 children between 6 and 12 years of age from a public elementary school in the municipality of Chiconcuac de Juárez, Mexico. Participants were categorized according to BMI: underweight (UW), normal weight (NW), overweight (OW), and obesity (OB). Anthropometric evaluation, serum biochemical markers, and three surrogate metabolic indices, namely the Triglyceride–Glucose (TyG), Triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL), and TyG-Body Mass Index (TyG-BMI), were calculated. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV). Results: The OB group children showed significantly higher levels of TG, TC and LDL-C, as well as elevated levels of TyG, TG/HDL and TyG-BMI indices (p < 0.05) and lower HDL-C concentration. While no significant differences were found in Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ), the NW group showed significantly higher performance in the PSI compared to all other groups outside the healthy weight range after FDR correction. Spearman’s correlation showed that surrogate metabolic indices exhibited exclusive negative correlations with the PSI in unadjusted bivariate models. Conclusions: The extremes of the nutritional status spectrum (UW and OB) are concurrently associated with early metabolic alterations and latent cardiovascular risk, while concurrently tracking with lower performance in selective fluid cognitive domains within unadjusted models. Furthermore, surrogate metabolic indices were shown to be valuable tools that co-vary with neurocognitive profiles. Full article

Executive functions (EF)—including working memory, inhibition, switching, and processing speed—are central to children’s literacy development. Building on evidence that rhythm-based reading interventions strengthen EF and reading fluency, this longitudinal study examined whether a brief EF “warm-up” preceding visual rhythmic reading training (RRT) enhances reading outcomes in early elementary school. Thirty-four first-grade children (mean age = 6.7 years) were followed to third grade, when twenty-five completed an eight-week intervention combining EF games and visual RRT (three sessions per week). Pre- and post-intervention assessments included EF and standardized reading measures. Children showed significant gains in consonant, word, and contextual reading fluency and in naming speed. Greater improvements were associated with enhanced inhibition and switching skills following training. However, EF measured in first grade did not predict later reading gains, suggesting developmental changes in EF–reading relations. Findings highlight the role of EF in supporting fluent reading and suggest that incorporating short EF warm-ups before literacy instruction may enhance children’s readiness for learning and promote more efficient reading development in the early school years. Full article

This study examined the associations of self-reported emotional intelligence and self-regulation with children’s well-being among fourth-grade elementary school students in Mersin, Türkiye. The sample comprised 627 students, predominantly aged 9 to 10 years, from seven public elementary schools selected to reflect different district and school contexts. Data were collected in person after ethics committee approval, institutional permissions from the Turkish Ministry of National Education, and written parental consent. The Children’s Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Self-Regulation Scale, and the Stirling Children’s Well-Being Scale were administered. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, simple and multiple linear regressions, and a cross-sectional indirect association analysis using PROCESS Model 4 with 5000 bootstrap resamples were conducted. Emotional intelligence was positively associated with children’s well-being and self-regulation, while self-regulation showed a weaker positive association with well-being. Emotional intelligence explained 31.4% of the variance in well-being, self-regulation explained 8.6% when examined alone, and both variables jointly explained 31.9%, indicating only a marginal increase over emotional intelligence alone. Thus, most of the explained variance was accounted for by emotional intelligence, whereas self-regulation made a very small incremental contribution beyond it. The indirect association analysis indicated a small but statistically supported pattern of indirect association between emotional intelligence and well-being through self-regulation within this cross-sectional design; the association between emotional intelligence and well-being remained significant after self-regulation was included in the model. The findings suggest that emotional intelligence is the stronger socio-emotional correlate of children’s well-being in this sample, whereas self-regulation shows a limited complementary association. Given the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-report measures, the findings should be interpreted as correlational associations rather than evidence of causal effects, temporal ordering, or developmental change. Future studies should use longitudinal, intervention-based, and multi-informant designs to further examine these associations. Full article

This study examines elementary school parents’ perceptions, expectations, concerns, and preferences regarding the use of Internet of Things (IoT) systems from an administrative perspective. Using survey data from 453 parents with at least one child attending an elementary school, descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and one-way analyses of variance were conducted to examine differences according to parental characteristics. Overall, parents reported relatively low-to-moderate levels of familiarity with IoT systems. Parental educational background and child grade level significantly influenced perceptions, with more highly educated parents and parents of younger children reporting more favorable views. Younger parents expressed more positive expectations regarding IoT systems, but also greater concern about personal information leakage. Parents showed strong demand for IoT applications related to emergency detection, environmental management, nutrition, and safety and preferred shared funding arrangements between schools and parents within clearly defined affordability thresholds. These findings suggest that parental acceptance of school-based IoT systems is conditional and shaped by perceptions of administrative relevance, governance quality, privacy safeguards, and cost fairness. Full article

Aim: This study assessed the effects of a six-week educational intervention using an adapted “Snakes and Ladders” board game on hydration knowledge, behavior, and status among Tunisian elementary school children during physical education (PE) lessons. Method: A randomized controlled trial involving 207 children was conducted, with participants assigned to either the educational group (EG, n = 99) or the control group (CG, n = 108). The EG participated in six weekly 30-min board game sessions, while the CG continued regular activities. Knowledge of hydration was assessed using a validated questionnaire. Hydration status was monitored indirectly by the percentage change in body mass from pre- to post-PE session. Perceived thirst was evaluated using a 9-point scale, and hydration behavior was evaluated based on water consumption during PE lessons. Results: Following the intervention, the EG demonstrated a significant improvement in overall hydration knowledge (ΔMean = +0.30 ± 0.11 vs. −0.05 ± 0.08 in CG; p < 0.001). Water intake during PE sessions increased progressively from week 2 (83.6 ± 127.2 mL) to week 6 (311.2 ± 204 mL) in the EG, whereas it remained unchanged in the CG (p < 0.001). Body mass loss after PE sessions decreased significantly in the EG (−0.03 kg) compared with the CG (−0.16 kg; p < 0.001), and perceived thirst before and after PE sessions was markedly lower (Cohen’s d = 0.75–1.32). Conclusions. The six-week board-game intervention appeared effective in increasing hydration knowledge, promoting healthier drinking behaviors during PE, and improving indirect indicators of hydration status. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the feasibility and educational value of a gamified, low-cost approach to hydration promotion in schools. Further research should examine long-term retention, include objective hydration biomarkers, and evaluate applicability across diverse school settings and environmental conditions. Full article

Research has demonstrated a link between spatial and mathematics skills, although less research has addressed the directionality of this relation and what factors may impact the spatial–mathematics link. Two such factors may be spatial and mathematics anxiety, which are related to performance in their respective domains, but may also play a cross-domain role in the relation between spatial and mathematics skills. Importantly, these relations are prudent to investigate in children when mathematics and spatial skills are early in their development. To bridge the gap, the present study examined the direction of the relation between spatial and mathematics skills across two waves of data and the domain specificity of cognitive anxieties (spatial and mathematics anxiety) as they relate to their respective skill in children. In a sample of 647 U.S. first-graders (M_age = 6 years 8 months), we found bidirectional relations between spatial and mathematics skills across two waves of data collection. We found domain-specific, but not cross-domain, relations between mathematics anxiety and skills, but no evidence of links between spatial anxiety and spatial or mathematics skills at this age. These results provide support for the bidirectional spatial–mathematics link in young children and suggest that mathematics anxiety may be a useful target for interventions to improve mathematics outcomes. Full article