October 21st, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
No Comments »
A recent survey commissioned by Hazeldon, a substance abuse treatment center, has inspired a campaign to start family conversations about alcohol. They call the campaign “Four Generations Overcoming Addiction,” and it encourages parents to talk with their children about their own alcohol use when they were teenagers.
The survey results from Ipsos Public Affairs are based on interviews done online with 603 teens between the ages of 15 and 18 and telephone interviews with 620 parents of teens. Some of the interesting results included: Read more »
This post, Talking To Teens About Drug Addiction, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
October 11th, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
No Comments »
I wish every teenager in America would wear a t-shirt that says “Talk to Me.” In fact, I wish the t-shirts would say “talk to me, touch me, connect with me, help me change our world!”
After three recent teens suicides, two teens at a local high school have started selling t-shirts that say “talk to me,” and I am just thrilled because these teens found a way to tell the adults around them that they need more communication! They need adults to talk with them, touch them, connect with them, and spend time with them! Every teen needs that connection, but when stressed, vulnerable and traumatized, they need it even more!
My heart is with this community and I hope these t-shirts become the school uniform!
Photo from lumaxart
This post, Teens Respond To Suicide Crisis: Talk To Me! T-shirts, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
September 25th, 2009 by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
No Comments »
CNN posted today that “Facebook is as large as the US Population.” That’s a lot of computers connecting in a lot of homes and communities all over the world but at what cost?
None to Facebook. They announced today they are finally making money.
But what about to us and our kids? Are we paying a price for being so socially networked?
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at DrGwenn Is In*
September 20th, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
No Comments »
There was a very interesting article in Reuters Health in June that has stayed with me all summer, and I finally decided to share it with my readers – in hopes that writing about it will help me quit thinking about it!
The data for this study came from more than 20,000 teens involved in the 1995 – 2002 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative school-based survey done with students in 7th through 12th grades.
The results from this disturbing study suggested that about 15% of teens believed they were likely to die prematurely, which predicted increased involvement in risky behavior and poor health outcomes during young adulthood. The question apparently asks if teens think there is at least a 50/50 chance that they will die before the age of 35, and the students who believed they would die prematurely were more likely to report illicit drug use, suicide attempts, fight-related injuries, police arrests, unsafe sexual activity, and a diagnosis of HIV at subsequent data collection points.
I guess I am not sure what to do with this information. On one hand, it suggests that all of the adults in teenagers’ lives – parents, teachers, coaches, doctors, neighbors, and family members – should pay attention to what teens think about premature death, calling for more communication, which I am supportive of, but how exactly would this subject come up?
I do not think asking how long they expect to live is the answer, but instead I do believe that adults can focus more on staying connected with teens and promoting optimism and hope in youth. I do not believe this means not talking about youth in meetings, but actually spending time with those youth where they spend their time, teaching them skills, sharing a sense of accomplishment, and making a physical and meaningful connection with each of them. Every teen needs to have multiple adults they can talk to and spend time with, especially during times of stress or interpersonal conflict.
Listening to teens talk about their friends, their futures, and their insecurities is a window into their expected life course, and being present enough to hear comments reflecting a “why bother” attitude may be the key! Please listen to your teens and help them feel positive about themselves today!
This post, Many Teens Believe They’ll Die Prematurely, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
September 8th, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
No Comments »
For the first time I am starting to see teen literature including successful and positive plus-size characters, and all I can say is, “it is about time!” Finally, there are large teens who are perceived as heroes and successful people.
While our culture keeps getting larger and childhood obesity and eating disorder rates keep climbing, the fact that there were no large, fat, plump, curvy, plush, whatever term you prefer, main characters with positive self-esteem, was really ridiculous. But all that seems to be changing.
There are now books with titles like “Looks,” Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies,” “Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have,” “All About Vee,” and “This Book Isn’t Fat It’s Fabulous,” that include large teens in positive roles for large people. There are also blogs our there, like “Diary of a Fat Teenager,” for teens looking for support about being happy with there bodies and not spending their energy trying to be thin!
Some days I think there is hope!
This post, Plus Size Teens, Positive Role Models, And The Media, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
