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Objectives. We investigated the body mass index (BMI; weight in pounds/[height in inches]2 × 703) of parents whose children participated in Shape Up Somerville (SUS), a community-based participatory research study that altered household, school, and community environments to prevent and reduce childhood obesity. Methods. SUS was a nonrandomized controlled trial with 30 participating elementary schools in 3 Massachusetts communities that occurred from 2002 to 2005. It included first-, second-, and third-grade children. We used an inverse probability weighting estimator adjusted for clustering effects to isolate the influence of SUS on parent (n = 478) BMI. The model's dependent variable was the change in pre- and postintervention parent BMI. Results. SUS was significantly associated with decreases in parent BMIs. SUS decreased treatment parents' BMIs by 0.411 points (95% confidence interval = -0.725, -0.097) relative to control parents. Conclusions. The benefits of a community-based environmental change childhood obesity intervention can spill over to parents, resulting in decreased parental BMI. Further research is warranted to examine the effects of this type of intervention on parental health behaviors and health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. This study assessed the impact of Massachusetts' parental consent law, which requires unmarried women under age 18 to obtain parental or judicial consent before having an abortion. Data were analyzed on monthly totals of abortions and births to Massachusetts minors prior to and following the April 1981 implementation of the law. Findings indicate that half as many minors obtained abortions in the state during the 20 months after the law went into effect as had done so previously. More than 1,800 minors residing in Massachusetts traveled to five surrounding states during these 20 months to avoid the statute's mandates. This group accounts for the reduction in in-state abortions. A small number of minors (50 to 100) bore children rather than aborting during 1982, perhaps because of the law. Findings suggest that this state's parental consent law had little effect on adolescent's pregnancy-resolution behavior. (Am J Public Health 1986; 76:397-400.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]