Childhood Obesity, Drug Abuse Top Health Concerns Adults Have About Children

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Childhood obesity and drug abuse are now the top health concerns for kids rated by adults, according to a new poll by University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. The fifth annual survey of the top 10 health concerns for kids asked more than 2,000 adults of different races and ethnicities to rate 23 different health concerns for children living in their communities. Most of the top concerns pertain to long-recognized risky behaviors for youth: drug, alcohol and tobacco use, as well as teen pregnancy. The recent results also suggest that parents are paying attention to new safety risks associated with the Internet and other technologies, including sexting. “The perception of drug abuse as a big problem matches recent national data showing increasing use of marijuana and other drugs by U.S. teens,” Matthew Davis, M.D., director of the National Poll on Children’s Health, said in an article on the University health system website.

As Hurricane Irene Hits the East Coast, Parents Get Kids Through the Storms

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This weekend many east coast families are canceling or changing their final summer travel plans and figuring out how to explain the violent winds and rains of hurricanes to their young children. Hurricane Irene is something many kids have not yet experienced. The destructive, monster of a storm is raking the Eastern Seaboard . Some kids remain oblivious to the storm, while others are obsessively watching weather updates or are intrigued by the science behind it. Once the wind and water damage hit, many kids may experience serious anxiety, possibly amplified by the overwhelming media coverage on TV and on the Internet.

In Philadelphia, Summer Might be Over but not the Curfew

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As the Labor Day weekend approaches, officials in Philadelphia have decide to extend a curfew on young people they say has been effective in extinguishing flash mobs. The summertime curfew has been in effect the last few weeks, since a group of teens attacked several people in the city’s downtown. A spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter told the Philadelphia Inquirer the curfew is working and would be extended until the start of the regular school year on Sept. 6. After that, students will find themselves subject to the city’s school-year ordinance that makes kids aged 13-17 subject to a 10:30 weekday, and a midnight weekend, curfew.

Social Networking Teens More Likely to Drink or Use Drugs, Study Finds

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Teens who spend time on social networking sites such as Facebook are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol or use drugs, says a new survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). The report says:
Compared to teens who do not spend time on a social networking site in a typical day, teens who do are:

Five times likelier to have used tobacco (10 percent vs. 2 percent);
Three times likelier to have used alcohol (26 percent vs. 9 percent);
Twice as likely to have used marijuana (13 percent vs. 7 percent).

Maggie Goes On A Diet Not Light on Controversy: Children’s Book Targeting Kids 6-12 Raises Questions

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A new book aimed at kids aged 6-12 tells the story of an overweight 14-year-old girl who goes on a diet and becomes popular after losing weight. “Maggie Goes on a Diet,” will be released in October, but the book is already embroiled in controversy. The cover features pudgy Maggie standing in front of a mirror holding a pink party dress that is clearly too small. Her reflection is a much thinner girl. According to a plot summary, Maggie "goes on a diet and is transformed from being extremely overweight and insecure to a normal sized girl who becomes the school soccer star.

Teens Facing Preventable Addiction Leading to Costly Health Problem for Nation

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Teen addiction is “the largest preventable and most costly public health problem in America today,” according to a recent report discussed by the the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Researchers at Columbia University National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that 75 percent of high school students nationwide have used addictive substances, such as cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine or prescription drugs. And these numbers don’t include incarcerated adolescents or those who have dropped out of school. Addiction is more likely for “the underdeveloped teen brain,” heightening the possibility of impaired judgment and bad decisions throughout life, the report says. It also says that teens who are exposed to parents' substance use disorders are more than three times as likely as other teens to have a substance use disorder themselves.

Retweet it: Welcome to the Dictionary

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For thy sweet sexting remembered such wealth brings, that then I scorn to change my state with kings?  The majestical cyberspace fretted with golden fire – why it appears no other thing that a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors.  In time the savage cyberbully doth bear the yoke. Apologies to Shakespeare, the man who did not have the advantage of referencing the Oxford English Dictionary when he penned Sonnet 29, Hamlet and Macbeth about half a millennium ago. Lucky him.

Q & A With the Anti-Bully Coach and a Primer for Wednesday’s Webinar

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On Aug. 24, 2011 at 2 p.m. ET, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention will hold a one and a half hour long bullying webinar. During the event, three panelists will discuss important issues related to bullying, including how it differs from other forms of aggression, the roles that children play and the best practices for intervening in bullying situations. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions as well. The panelists will be:

Stan Davis, a certified social worker and guidance counselor for the Youth Voice Project;
Susan P. Limber, PhD, a professor at the Institute on Family & Neighborhood Life at Clemson University;
and Joel D. Haber, PhD, who is the founder of RespectU and is known as “The Anti-Bully Coach."

FBI Releases iPhone App to Help Locate Missing Children

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A missing or abducted child may be one of the most frightening possibilities a parent can imagine. And in those first moments of panic, when every second counts, providing an accurate description of the missing child to authorities is critical. That’s where the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) first smartphone app intends to help. The app, “FBI Child ID,” is free for iOS devices such as the iPhone or iPod Touch and stores important identifying information about your child such as height, weight and hair color. Using the camera on the handheld device, parents may also snap a picture of their child.