Anti-obesity Program Targets Tween Girls

A government-funded program designed to combat the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States is gaining ground by helping girls ages 9 to 13 develop healthy eating and exercise habits.

"BodyWorks," which was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH), helps parents and other mentors teach young adolescent girls how to incorporate "7 Simple Steps to Healthy Living" into their lives.

"BodyWorks gives families the tools to make simple, gradual changes that help girls reach and maintain a healthy weight so they can grow to become healthy women," said Dr. Jonelle Rowe, OWH's senior advisor for adolescent girls, in the program's Body Basics guide for parents.

Dr. Monica Richter, a pediatrician who is also a BodyWorks instructor, told Reuters Health reporter Anne Harding that she was enthusiastic about the program because of its emphasis on developing a healthy mindset among all family members.

"The very attractive aspect of it is that it addresses the whole family, and the whole environment in the household, which I think is the best approach to childhood obesity," Richter said in a June 27, 2008 article on the Reuters website. "Diet implies a short-term deprivation, which doesn't work."

Teen Pregnancy and Abortion Rates at 30-year Lows

While most media outlets were focused on the 17 pregnancies that were initially thought to have resulted from a "pact" by high school students in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the Chicago Tribune was reporting on a report by New York's Guttmacher Institute that indicates that the pregnancy and abortion rates among teen girls have reached new lows since peaking almost 15 years ago.

According to a June 29, 2008, article by Tribune correspondent Lisa Anderson, the pregnancy rate among women ages 15 to 19 has dropped 36 percent since 1990. In 2004 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), the pregnancy rate among 15-to-19-year-olds was 72.2 per 1,000 women; 14 years earlier the rate was 117 per 1,000 women.

Anderson also reported that the Guttmacher Institute had documented a significant decrease in the abortion rate among teenagers. In 1988, the rate was 43.5 abortions per 1,000 women; by 2004 the number had declined to 19.8 per 1,000 women.

"The U.S. still leads developed nations in the rate of pregnancies, births and abortions among teenage mothers, but it has whittled the numbers dramatically through a combination of greater accessibility to and use of contraception, the tendency of teens to delay sexual activity longer than they did in the past, and education programs, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."

Though the pregnancy and abortion rates have returned to levels not seen since the 1970s, the news is not all good, Anderson wrote. Among other areas of concern, she noted that the number of live births among women ages 15 to 19 rose three percent in 2006, reversing a 14-year trend of annual declines.

D.C.-area Schools to Add Single-sex Classes

In the 22 months since the U.S. Department of Education published regulations intended to clarify the legality of single-sex education within the American public school system, the practice has continued to garner both interest and support.

The Washington, D.C.-area WTOP News is reporting that school districts in and near the nation's capital are among the latest to embrace this philosophy:

Some public schools in Prince William, Prince George's and Fairfax counties have tried the method or plan to start doing so. In D.C., two new charter schools that plan to offer same-sex classes are slated to open in August.

According to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, at least 392 U.S. schools intend to offer single-sex educational opportunities during the 2008-2009 academic year.

Frequent Family Meals Reduce Risky Behavior Among Young Girls

Researchers with the University of Minnesota have determined that adolescent girls who frequently participate in family meals are significantly less likely to smoke tobacco, drink alcohol, and use marijuana than are their peers who don't dine with their families.

Under the direction of Marla Eisenberg, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UM, investigators analyzed data collected over a five-year period from about 800 subjects who were between the ages of 10 and 13 when the study began. Among the conclusions drawn by Eisenberg and her team was that "eating together has benefits for teen girls no matter how close their families or how good their relationships with their parents."

In an article on the American Psychological Association website, Eisenberg wrote that family meals seem to encourage positive results while reducing the likelihood of less-desirable behaviors. "We found family mealtime to be a protective factor in the lives of adolescents for nearly all of these variables, particularly among girls. Specifically, kids who reported eating more family meals per week reported significantly less substance use and significantly better academic and mental health than those eating fewer meals with family."

Shannon Proudfoot, who reported on the study for the Canwest News Service, noted that researchers were unable to determine why the frequent family meals were good for the girls - and didn't know why boys don't reap a similar benefit.

"Part of it is just parents being more in touch with their kids, being able to see earlier on if their kids are veering down a path that might not be filled with healthy choices," says Eisenberg.

Family meals may also offer protection simply because they increase the amount of time teens spend at home instead of out with their friends, she says - the environment where they are most likely to experiment with cigarettes, drugs and alcohol

."It's really not as clear for boys, we've had a hard time pinning down what's going on with boys," says Eisenberg.

Eisenberg's research was conducted as part of UM's Project EAT, an ongoing effort to investigate influences on the eating habits of American adolescents.

Group Criticizes Arizona's Efforts on Behalf of Young Girls

Despite having a strong history of female leadership - including more female governors (three) than any other state in the union - Arizona has come under criticism by a nonprofit advocacy group for not doing enough to take care of the young girls who live there.

Released in June 2008 by The Girl's Education Project, "The State of Arizona's Girls" paints a relatively bleak picture of life in America's 48th state. The following are three samples of the statistics cited in the report:

• With an average of 65 teen mothers giving birth every week, Arizona has the second-highest teen pregnancy rate among U.S. states.
• Among adolescents aged 13 to 15 years old, girls in Arizona consume alcohol at rates equal to boys - and eighth-grade girls in the state are actually drinking more than their male counterparts.
• The student-to-teacher ratio in Arizona's public schools is the second-to-worst balance in the United States.

The project's executive director, Shirley Osborne, told The Arizona Republic that the rationale behind the report was a desire to call attention to the depth and breadth of issues facing girls in Arizona. "We wanted to make sure that we gave full voice to the experiences and insights of the girls of Arizona who embody the issues," Osborne told Republic reporter Karina Bland.

In the report's introduction, Osborne wrote that though this is "an electrifying time for women and girls in the United States ... the promise for the girls coming into womanhood in Arizona does not appear quite as bright."

Female Sexual Molesters Exhibit Problems with Maturity and Intimacy

Women who have sex with underage boys tend to be socially immature individuals who have difficulties in their intimate relationships. They are also likely to have been victims of sexual molestation themselves, and most have histories of substance abuse and personality and mental disorders, according to a spate of new studies.

Professor Susan Strickland of the University of Georgia, who studied 130 female prisoners, found that most of the sex offenders she evaluated lacked the social skills necessary to relate to individuals their own age. These offenders also wanted power and control in relationships, and saw young boys as persons that they could mold into ideal partners.

According to a press release on the University of Georgia website, experts estimate that between five and seven percent of sex crimes are committed by females.