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Constructive Conversations

Melanie Franklin, PhD, Psychology Fellow, contributed to this blog post. It’s well recognized that childhood eating habits have a lasting impact on health, longevity, and disease prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that obesity affects approximately 42% of adults living in America, and obesity-related conditions (type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer) are some of the leading causes of preventable death. Obesity affects nearly 20% of children and adolescents (13.7 million), which greatly increases the chances that obesity will carry forward into adulthood. While encouraging healthy food choices is important for preventing obesity and its related conditions, parents should be mindful of how they discuss diet and weight with and around their children. Encouraging kids to diet can have a lasting impact into adulthood, including: a higher risk of disordered eating, unhealthy weight control behaviors, lower body satisfaction, and higher risk of overweight […]

Teen Dating Violence, also known as TDV, is a type of intimate partner violence that happens between two teens in a close relationship. But TDV doesn’t just affect teenagers, though; it impacts families, teachers, friends and whole communities. That’s why it’s essential that parents, educators and health professionals talk to young people about the risks and consequences of the issue. Teen Dating Violence Statistics Teen Dating Violence is probably more common than you think. It affects millions of teens in the U.S. each year. Data from CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey provide some alarming statistics: Youth age 12 to 19 experience the highest rates of rape and sexual assault. Nearly 1 in 11 female and approximately 1 in 15 male high school students have experienced physical dating violence in the last year. About 1 in 9 female and 1 in 36 […]

Almost every child will experience the death of a loved one at some point during their childhood. Whether it’s an immediate family member, a friend or a classmate, it’s important for parents to know how to talk to their kids about death and grief. Be Honest The key is to be honest and use age-appropriate language to make the concept as easy as possible to grasp. “Depending on your child’s age, you want to give them the right amount of information and be straightforward,” said Dr. Meghan Walls, a pediatric psychologist Nemours duPont Hospital for Children. “Some parents will say, ‘Grandma is in a better place,’ but that’s confusing to kids. What does that mean? Instead, they should say, ‘I have to tell you something. Grandma died last night.’ It’s better than saying she passed away. You want to be very clear.” Most elementary-age children don’t understand what death means. […]

For most of us, getting medical care right away for a possible brain injury, such as a concussion, is an easy decision. But teen athletes often have a tougher time identifying when they need to stop and get help. Research has shown that as many as 50% of concussions go under-reported in youth sports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that: 69% of high school athletes said they had played while having concussion symptoms 4 in 10 of these said their coach didn’t know they had a possible concussion These statistics are significant given the amount of children involved in organized youth sports. Why don’t youth athletes report concussions? They didn’t know they had one: While headache is often an easily recognized symptom, dizziness and nausea can be overlooked or linked to something else such as dehydration. Fear of loss of playing time. Not wanting to let […]

With the flood of news available through social media on a daily basis, most kids and teens have probably had exposure to events surrounding the #MeToo movement and recent high profile sexual harassment cases. Parents can use this as an opportunity to talk to kids about these topics, in an age appropriate way. Understandably, this can be challenging and overwhelming, especially with tweens and young children. Parents can start by asking what their child has heard and help sort through their questions and ideas in a safe environment. This should not be a single conversation, but rather an ongoing dialogue that develops and can be revisited as kids get older. Below are tips on how to navigate the conversation. Keep it developmentally appropriate The foundation of appropriate and prosocial behavior can be taught at any age. Respect, empathy, and understanding are ideas that even young kids can start to grasp, […]

“Body modifications” like tattoos, piercings other than in the ears, and scarification have become a mainstream trend. It has also become popular for many young people to get dental implants in Beverly Hills or somewhere similar in order to achieve that perfect Instagram smile. These procedures might be safe for adults, but adolescents do not always think about the long-term ramifications of changing their bodies. Skin is not done growing until adulthood, so tattoos can stretch, fade or even become lopsided over time. They are hard to modify and even harder to remove. Piercings can heal over, defeating the point of getting one in the first place, whilst the jaw undergoes changes until the mid-twenties, making it much safer to get teeth alterations done at an older age. A report in 2010 found that 38 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds had at least one tattoo, and we suspect that the […]