Teen Birth Rate Falls

Between 2007 and 2008, the number of teenagers having children fell by 2 percent. This is good news, especially in light of the fact that the rate had risen during the previous two years.

Aside from the stress that comes with having a baby while a student is still in school, there are a number of risk factors involved with teenage pregnancies.

Young women who have not received prenatal care are three times more likely to have low birth weight babies, according to the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting. (Source: Owatonna (MN) Peoples Press)

Teenage parents are also less likely to finish high school, far less likely to go on to higher education, and more likely to rely on public assistance.

For Many Teens, Rebelliousness Really is 'Just a Phase'

Some studies have found that children begin preparing for the transition into adult as early as age 9. Granted, at such an early age, they don’t know they're preparing. By the time they're teenagers, however, they know adulthood is just around the corner, and many are anxious for its arrival.

The ever-changing, soon-to-be adult fights against the uncomfortable confines of the cocoon which must be in place to perform its vital functions: to protect and nurture until the transformation is complete.

In the effort to propel forth as an adult, the teen rebels against the rules and boundaries put in place by the parent. (Source: www.examiner.com)

The attitude often displayed by teenagers is not pleasant. Fortunately, for most, it's not permanent either. One day, after they've effectively broken away from their childhood selves, most will return to normal, and can once again have productive relationships with their parents.

Of course, if your daughter's defiance and rebellion extend beyond normal teen self-discovery, a therapeutic residential program might be the best opportunity for your family.

Tips to Keep Your Daughter Safe from Bullies

In an April 26 column on the website of the Bellvue (Wash.) Reporter, the executive director of the community's Youth Eastside Services offered the following advice to parents about ways they can protect their daughters from being bullied:

• Tune in to your daughter. Is she excluded from activities that she once attended? Is her best friend no longer calling? Ask her what she needs or wants and how you can support her. Often, victims are waiting for someone to intervene and protect them. 

• Engage in open and honest conversation with your teen about her friendships. Discuss with her what makes a good friend. 

• As a parent and role model, demonstrate kindness and healthy friendships. Don't gossip or make fun of others, and don’t tolerate that behavior in anyone else, including your daughter. 

• Teach girls to stand up for themselves and their friends and to speak to school administrators if they see bullying happening. 


Phyiscal Activity Improves Kids' Academic Performance

Want to give your daughter the best chance of achieving academic success? Make sure her studies are complemented with a healthy dose of physical activity.

If children are allowed to take breaks in order to be physically active throughout the day, they will perform better on standardized tests and are better able to concentrate on schoolwork, according to a new government study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Howard Wechsler and his colleagues went through 50 previous studies that involved the effects of physical activity on academic performance.
  
• Half of the studies showed a positive effect, half showed a neutral effect, but none found that physical activity had any negative effect on schoolwork.
  
• Short physical breaks between five to 20 minutes long improved attention span, test scores, and classroom behavior.
  
• Children who participated in sports teams had better grade point averages, attachment to their schools, and were more likely to graduate.

The recommended level of physical activity for children and teenagers is 60 minutes a day. The study found that 30 of those minutes could be done at school.

"There are a lot of studies that show more time for physical education and other physical activity helps improve academic performance," said Wechsler, director of the Division of Adolescent and School Health for Centers for Disease Control. "Some shortsighted people thought that cutting back on time spent on physical education to spend more time drilling for tests would improve test scores."

Teen Drinking May Raise Risk of Breast Cancer in Adulthood

Girls who drink during their teenage years may be more likely to develop breast cancer as adults, according to a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and Harvard University.

The research team studied 6,899 girls ages 9 to 15 years old, following them for ten years between 1996 and 2007. The girls were part of a study called "Growing up Today," which has 9000 participants in 50 states.

• The more alcohol a young girl consumed, the more likely she was to develop benign breast disease, which in turn can lead to the breast cancer.
  
• Girls who drank six or seven times a week were more than five times more likely to develop benign breast disease than those who limited themselves to one drink or less a week.
  
• Those who drank three to five days a week at three times the risk for the disease.

"We know from many other studies of adult women that alcohol intake later in life increases the risk for breast cancer," said Dr. Graham Colditz, lead author. "But many women begin drinking alcohol as adolescents right at the time in which breast tissue is going through stages of rapid proliferation. We wanted to see if the effect of alcohol on breast cancer risk was operative in this younger group."

Previous research has shown that physical activity can lower breast cancer risk, as well as maintaining a normal weight and eating healthy foods.

The study appeared in the journal Pediatrics.

Can You Recognize Signs of an Abusive Teen Relationship?

Adults aren't the only ones who can get stuck in unhealthy and abusive relationships. Studies have found that one in three teenagers experience some form of relationship abuse from their partners.

If you have concerns about your teen's choice of partner, or you are seeing red flags that go beyond normal parent radar, then you probably have some reason for concern. …

Here are a few warning signs to look out for: Excessive text messaging or calling; monitoring calls and emails … telling the other person what to do and wear, publicly embarrassing him/her ... [Source: Baltimore Parenting Issues Examiner]

An abusive person will also try to isolate his or her partner, as it makes them easier to control. So watch for partners that only want to spend time alone and not with the rest of the family.

Technology Interests Prompt Girls to Abandon Dolls at Younger Ages

According to a March 31 article by Lini S. Kadaba, consumer trends indicate that interest in computers and other forms of technology are causing girls to abandon dolls at a younger age than did previous generations:

It used to be that dolls held girls' interest at least through elementary school. But these days, girls are dropping such playthings at ever younger ages, largely replacing the childhood mainstay with technology-driven activities, even as the toy industry battles to attract the coveted market with new products.

According to the NPD Group, U.S. doll sales have declined by nearly 20 percent since 2005 - and older girls are the least likely to have such toys. In 2009, 18 percent of dolls sold went to girls 9 and older, but 37 percent landed in the hands of 3- to 5-year-olds, the "sweet spot" ages, said Anita Frazier, NPD toys and video games industry analyst.

Jeff Holtzman, third-generation head of dollmaker Goldberger Co., based in Manhattan, said his business used to make dolls for children from birth to 12. Nowadays, Goldberger focuses on children under 3.

"By the time they hit 4 or 5, they want a cell phone," Holtzman said. "We're replacing dolls sooner."

Exhausted by Parenting? You're Not Alone

Most parents will agree that parenting is the most rewarding job they have. Most will also admit that it's exhausting. Whether you have one child or four, the time and energy they require leaves parents will little time or energy of their own.

In an April 7 post on AnnArbor.com, author (and mother) Pamela Gossiuax shared her story of parental exhaustion:

I have been exhausted for 10 years, from approximately the time I became heavy with pregnancy until now. Friends with older children tell me I will never sleep well again. When they are teens, I'll wait up, worrying, for them until they are home safe, and even when they are in college I will worry that someone will fall out of their top bunk.

Then our own issues will set in - hot flashes for us women, prostrate trouble for men, sleep apnea for us all. So I have to face it - I'll never sleep well again.

But it's not just the lack of sleep that has me exhausted. Parenting is hard work all around. There's not a single meal where I don't get up at least three times to clean up a spill or get some forgotten item. And going anywhere is like packing for a six-month trip.

“But it’s not just the lack of sleep that has me exhausted. Parenting is hard work all around. There’s not a single meal where I don’t get up at least three times to clean up a spill or get some forgotten item. And going anywhere is like packing for a six-month trip.

Study Documents Difficulty of Texting While Driving

Parents whose daughters claim that texting while driving is no problem for the younger, multitasking generation now have some statistics to support their argument against such dangerous behavior.

Ninety-seven percent of the participants in a new study were unable to drive and talk on the phone at the same time even if they used a hands-free device.

• University of Utah Professors Jason Watson and David Strayer asked 200 people to use a driving simulator while they talked on a hands-free phone, as they also tried to memorize words and do math problems.
  
• Only one in 40 were able to do everything at once.
  
• The vast majority drove as poorly as if they were legally drunk.
  
• Their math and memory performance declined 3 to 11 percent.

The few individuals who could successfully multi-task may become the subject of further investigation.

"There is clearly something special about supertaskers, the rare but intriguing individuals with extraordinary multitasking ability," said the authors. "Ultimately, we believe that supertaskers can be leveraged to provide theoretical insight into why cognition does or does not break down for other dual-task combinations beyond just cell phones and driving."

Watson and Strayer plan to use brain imaging techniques study supertaskers.

The study appeared in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin and Review.

British Study Says Older Women Drinking More than They Did as Teens

A British study of alcohol abuse among girls and women found that women over 35 years old in are drinking more than they did as teenagers.

This new Department of Health study found that such lifestyle changes are contributing to a rising number of deaths from liver disorders.

The study found that women preferred to drink wine over other alcoholic beverages, and 66 percent were unaware of the alcoholic content in wine.

"This survey quantified what we have suspected for a long time," said Alison Rogers, chief executive of the British Liver Trust. "Unit awareness is staggeringly low among this key age group, special offers and supermarkets incite bulk purchasing, and one in ten respondents did not give their liver a day off from alcohol."

Genetics May Influence Drinking, Drug Use Among Girls

Genetic factors can affect conduct problems in girls, causing them to smoke, drink, and use drugs, according to a new study in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Boys were more likely to be influenced by family and friends.

"Our findings show that risk factors for substance abuse are different in boys and girls," said Prof. Judy Silberg of Virginia Commonwealth University. "In girls, there was a significant genetic influence on all substance abuse in adolescence. But with boys, environmental factors, including a dysfunctional family and peers using drugs and alcohol, had a pervasive influence."

Dr. Silberg and her colleagues studied 1,070 teenage twin girls and boys, ages 12 to 17 years old, using data from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development.

Dr. Silberg said the study has implications for how to treat substance abuse in teenagers. For example, changing family and peer relationships might affect boys' substance abuse. In girls, it might be more effective to target the antisocial behavior itself.

Date Rape Column Ingites Furor at American University

An opinion piece about date rape in American University’s student newspaper has sparked a firestorm of protests from angry students.

The column’s author, Alex Knepper, wrote that a girl who gets drunk at a party and accompanies a guy back to his room is "indicating that she wants sex," and can’t call it rape the next morning when she regrets her decision.

Susan Donaldson Jones reported on the column and ensuing controversy in an April 1 article on abcnews.com:

[Drew] Franklin, 22, and an audio production major, said he wasn't protesting Knepper's ideas, but rather the platform the newspaper gave the writer for "hate speech." ...

"They crossed the line when they marginalized survivors of sexual assault," he said.

One in six women will survive sexual assault in her lifetime, and college-age women are four times more likely to be victims than others, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Only about a third of all rape victims report these crimes and about 73 percent know their assailants.

About 90 percent of college women who are victims know their assailants -- usually a classmate, friend, boyfriend, ex-boyfrend, or other acquaintance, according to 2006 statistics from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the Department of Justice.