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April 13, 2001Volume 29, Number 26



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Curriculum seeks to educate
children about causes of cancer

Teaching elementary schoolchildren about cancer and cancer-causing behaviors, such as smoking, excess sun exposure and poor diet, can be done effectively without unduly frightening them, a Yale researcher has concluded in a pilot study.

Dr. David Schonfeld, associate professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, the Yale Child Study Center and the Yale Cancer Center, says his goal in pilot testing the cancer curriculum in an elementary school was to encourage healthier habits at a young age. Statistics show one in three Americans will develop cancer, and cigarette smoking and poor diet contribute to up to 70% of all cancers.

"Research shows that increased knowledge of cancer among elementary school-aged children is associated with less fear of 'catching' cancer from someone with cancer and an increased willingness to accept and to interact with a child with cancer," says Schonfeld, whose results of the pilot test were published recently in the Journal of School Health.

He says he realized the need for a cancer curriculum for school-age children while working on another project to educate children about AIDS. He asked the students what they knew about colds and cancer as a basis of comparison, and it was obvious the children had many misconceptions.

Starting to teach healthier habits at a young age is important, he says, because most risk behaviors begin to be formed in childhood and adolescence. Eighty percent of a person's cumulative lifetime sun exposure occurs during childhood and adolescence, and three-fourths of nonmelanoma skin cancer can be prevented through appropriate use of sunscreen during childhood and adolescence, he says.

The study was conducted at Cold Spring School, a private elementary school in New Haven with 88 students in five mixed-grade classes. Sixty-seven students participated in the 15-hour curriculum, called "Staying Healthy: What I Can Do: First Steps to Prevent Cancer."

Each of the children was interviewed before and after the instruction. The questions were about such concepts as the causes of cancer, how it is transmitted, how it is treated, prevention measures that can be taken, the symptoms and a person's vulnerability for it. For comparison, the same questions were asked about AIDS and colds, but the children were not taught any lessons in these areas.

"Compared to their pretest scores, students showed a significant gain in conceptual understanding for causality and prevention of cancer as a result of the intervention," Schonfeld says. "No significant gains occurred in the children's conceptual understanding for the same concepts for colds or AIDS."

He says the children, after receiving the instruction, identified the three causes of cancer which served as a focus of the curriculum. Many also were able to provide a general description of damage to cells as an underlying mechanism of cancer causality. Very few students still thought cancer was contagious or could be contracted through casual contact.

In addition, there were no significant increases in the children's fears or worries about cancer. Only one child responded "yes" when asked: "Do you think you are going to get cancer?" Before the instruction, seven students responded affirmatively to the question. Parents and teachers also said they noticed a significant change in the children's behavior related to sunscreen use and diet.

The curriculum now is being tested among sixth- and seventh-grade students in three suburban public school systems to see if it will keep more students from smoking and lead them to eat healthier foods and wear sunscreen.

Other researchers on the project were Dr. Hugh Bases of Hackensack University Medical Center; Marcia Quackenbush, a patient education specialist in Santa Cruz, California; Susan Mayne, associate professor in the Yale Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and program director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program at the Yale Cancer Center; Marion Morra, associate clinical professor at the Yale School of Nursing; and Domenic Cicchetti, senior research scientist and biostatistician at the Yale Child Study Center.

Funding was provided by The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation and The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

-- By Jacqueline Weaver


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Berkeley Divinity School gets $1 million gift to fund new chapel

First Kingsley Trust Fellows are named

Journalists to discuss forces shaping the environmental agenda

William Lanman, Yale alumnus and benefactor, dies

Beinecke show pays tribute to public-spirited alumnus collector


ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

Stephen Smith will serve a second term as master of Branford College

Peabody exhibit highlights life in a local tidal marsh

Alumnus' donation of books to library includes extensive collection of Molière

Illinois Governor George Ryan to reflect on death penalty


MEDICAL CENTER NEWS

Mellon Foundation grant will fund Latin American studies

Noted alumnus conductor to lead 'Royal Blue' concert

Chinese students, scholars display 'Images from Home'

Public forum to focus on faith and citizenship

Communiversity Day: A Photo Essay

'Setting Sail' exhibit on view at Slifka Center

'Art and Conflict' is theme of International Festival of Arts & Ideas

Noted historian to be Beinecke Library fellow

Trumbull College senior Robert Blake Gilpin awarded annual . . .

Memorial service planned for former instructor Effie Geanakoplos

YES will announce Y50K award winners at April 14 gala

Medical school dean Dr. David Kessler to talk at tea



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