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With Teen Obesity, Inactivity Is Only Part of the Problem

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:32:46 -0800

I panic every time I see another "exercise doesn't work!" story - until I read between the lines and learn once again that exercise is a good thing. On the heels of its conversation-starting cover story on the exercise "myth," Time is tackling a new study of teen obesity that claims inactivity is only partly to blame for heavier kids.

Obesity rates in teenagers have triple between 1976 and 2004, with lack of exercise the suspected culprit. But a new report published in Obesity Reviews says that physical activity levels among teens have actually stayed fairly steady. So does that mean that exercise doesn't matter? Hardly, so read more.

Unfortunately, this latest study only looked at activity levels, not eating habits, and the participants were self-reporting on their own habits, which can lead to unreliable data. These figures merely suggest that the increase in teen obesity can't be explained away by teens' lack of exercise, according to Dr. Youfa Wang, the lead author of the study. Here's more:

So does this mean that exercise isn't important in controlling weight? As tempting as that conclusion might be, Wang and other health experts say that's not exactly what the new data show. . . . While exercise may not contribute directly to weight loss, it is critical for maintaining a healthy weight, since it helps calibrate the balance between energy taken in and energy burned off. "The data is too gross, and too general, to assume that [exercise doesn't count]," warns Dr. Janet Walberg Rankin, a professor in the department of human nutrition, foods, and exercise at Virginia Tech. "We need to have a dual approach to weight involving both activity and diet. I would hate for people to take away from this study that activity has nothing to do with weight."

Phew! Thanks, doc. I also hope that's not what people take away from this study. In fact, to me, it says the opposite. If teen obesity is going up because teens have increased their calorie intake without increasing their activity levels, then that seems to say pretty clearly that exercise does make a difference. Do you agree?

Stranger than Fiction: School Used Lap Dance Therapy

TresSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

When you think of activities to help the emotional growth of teens with behavior troubles or special learning needs, lap dances would probably be the last thing you'd think of.

But that's exactly what the staff at Mount Bachelor Academy came up with, and they forced students to undergo lap dance therapy as a part of their "emotional growth" curriculum. The boarding school was shutdown after students accused the staff of employing this dubious therapy, and a seven-month state investigation has just confirmed the allegations.

According to the report, the school's "Lifesteps" seminars made students take on sexualized roles and perform in front of staff and students. One girl, who had been raped before going to the school, was forced to dress as a French maid and perform a lap dance. (Who thought this was a good idea?!)

Oregon's Department of Human Services says the school poses "a serious danger to child safety." Whenever I hear these horror stories about reform schools, I wonder: did anyone ever check to see if the people allowed to run them for so long needed some reform themselves?

More Teens Getting Pregnant; Who They Are May Surprise You

TresSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0800

We often hear media stories about teenagers from poor and single-parent homes getting pregnant.

Research conducted for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, however, concludes that only 28 percent of people who reported giving birth or fathering children as teens lived in families with incomes below the federal poverty line, and only 30 percent said they were living with a single parent.

Although teens from poor families headed by single mothers are disproportionately likely to become teen mothers, "teen pregnancy is not limited to a particular racial group or socio-economic status or a particular family structure," says Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign.

In other words, parents and schools need to be vigilant about teaching teens either to abstain from sex or to have safe sex - even upper-middle-class teens. After 15 years of a decline in teen pregnancy, the number of teens giving birth has gone up in the last couple years. The reason? More sex and less contraception, says Albert, especially because teen boys are less concerned about contracting HIV.

Teenage Girls Support Alleged Richmond Rapist on MySpace

TresSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:21:49 -0800

The news about the gang rape of a teenage girl in Richmond, CA, outside a homecoming dance while others watched and did nothing continues to get crazier.

A seventh suspect (the oldest so far at age 21) was arrested today, but even as details about the horrific crime continue to come out, one of the youngest accused rapists, who is 15, seems to have unlikely supporters: teenage girls on his MySpace page.

It's not clear if they think he's innocent, but they hope he's freed and that anyone who "snitched" on him gets theirs.

"F*uck the system. F*uck the snitchz. Free Cody," writes Vanessa.

What is going on here? Typical teen confusion? Are young girls oblivious to their own vulnerability? Are they repressing their knowledge of their vulnerability by supporting an accused rapist instead of a female rape survivor? Or do teen girls just learn to hate themselves and each other at an earlier age? Help me out - I am genuinely at a loss for words.

Clash of Cultures Puts Latina Teens in Danger of Suicide

TresSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:50:13 -0700

According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, one out of seven Latina teenagers attempts suicide.

Psychologist Dr. Luis Zayas of Washington University, who has spent the last 25 years studying Latina teens, believes that this rate is so high because of the teens' troubled relationships with their mothers. Usually the child of poor immigrant parents, the troubled teen is caught between her parents' values and the ones she sees growing up in the US.

American teens, says Dr. Zayas, have "very different models about what girls should do, can do and are permitted to do." For Francisca Abreu, now 15, clashing with her Dominican mother led to depression, a suicide attempt, and pregnancy at 14. Her mother Isabel wanted Francisca to stay home, clean the house, and learn to cook. Not surprisingly, Francisca wanted to go out with her friends.

"Teenagers have certain freedoms; they don't need to consult with their parents to make certain decisions," Dr. Zayas says. "That's the culture that's here, and inserted in that is the Latino family that says the family is much more important than the individual."

After giving birth to her daughter Destiny at 14 and lots of therapy, Francisca says she finally understands what her mother went though. "All she did was be a good mother, sacrifice her life for us," Francisca says. "That's all she did."

Did you grow up in an immigrant family and deal with the clash of cultures as a teen?

Teen Quits High School Rather Than Stop Cross-Dressing

TresSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:00:00 -0700

16-year-old Jonathan Escobar of Kennesaw, GA, was told by his high school to dress "more manly," so the teen who expressed himself by donning wigs and wearing makeup decided to drop out rather than put up with the dictates.

I think Jonathan looks like an eccentric Hitchcock heroine, and I don't see how this is any different from a teen dressing up goth or emo. (Would they get away with telling a butch girl to dress more feminine?) What do you think about the school's claim that he was causing a commotion with his looks - are they being too conservative about gender?

More Kids Are Coming Out in Middle School

TresSugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:00:00 -0700

The middle-school version of ourselves probably had a blurry idea of the adults we would become, but some kids are proving that we knew a lot more about our identities than we thought. With no doubt about who they are attracted to, more and more kids are coming out as gay or bisexual before they make it to high school.

An article in this weekend's New York Times Magazine examines the trend and reveals that many of these kid are coming out before they've ever dated or kissed anyone of either sex. They just know they don't want to date the opposite sex.

The piece profiles Austin, a gay 13-year-old from Oklahoma. To hear what Austin thinks about tweens and teens coming out and the reactions they get, read more.

Austin's experience went something like this:

Austin doesn’t have to play "the pretend game," as he calls it, anymore. At his middle school, he has come out to his close friends, who have been supportive. A few of his female friends responded that they were bisexual. "Half the girls I know are bisexual,” he said. He hadn’t planned on coming out to his mom yet, but she found out a week before the dance. “I told my cousin, my cousin told this other girl, she told her mother, her mother told my mom and then my mom told me," Austin explained. "The only person who really has a problem with it is my older sister, who keeps saying: 'It’s just a phase! It’s just a phase!'"

"It's just a phase" is probably a common reaction to the idea of middle schoolers coming out. But since we would never question a heterosexual adolescent who announces that he or she likes the opposite sex, should we question those who say they're attracted to the same sex? What do you make of all this?

Were There Mean Girls at Your High School?

TresSugar — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Tina Fey captured the essence of high school girl-on-girl cruelty when she wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls. In the movie, Lindsay Lohan's character Cady describes how the queen of mean Regina George ruled her minion Gretchen, in addition to the whole school:

The meaner Regina was to her, the more Gretchen tried to win Regina back. She knew it was better to be in the plastics, hating life, than to not be in at all.

The New York Times recently stumbled upon the mean-girl phenomenon in the form of a "slut list" at a New Jersey high school. This list included the names of about a dozen pretty and popular incoming freshman along with crass descriptions.

It's safe to assume that every high school girl has experienced the competition and cattiness romanticized by Hollywood (don't forget Gossip Girl too!). But is the New Jersey "slut list" story closer to Hollywood or your own high school experience?

Teen Suspended For Telling Muslim-American to Take Off Hijab

TresSugar — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Heather Lawrence, a 16-year-old from Spring Hill, FL, may want to rethink what it means to be a patriotic American.

A junior ROTC member who wants to enlist in the Army next Summer, Lawrence was recently suspended for chastising a fellow student in the halls who was wearing a hijab, saying, “Take that thing off your head and act like you're proud to be an American." She first took offense at the girl when she noticed that she didn’t stand for the pledge of allegiance. Lawrence's parents, outraged that she was suspended for five days, are thinking of taking legal action. (The girl Lawrence confronted didn't complain, but a teacher overheard the remarks and reported her.)

Lawrence’s parents say that it’s Heather’s First Amendment right to “speak her mind,” but Springstead High’s principal sees Heather’s behavior as a of violation the district’s policy against bullying and harassment. According to a school staffer who asked Lawrence why she confronted the student, her harassment seemed to have a prejudicial tinge. "She began to rant,” said the staffer, “that she was enlisting and was going to Iraq and that basically because the girl looks Middle Eastern, that makes her an enemy because all Iraqis are Middle Eastern."

We’ve talked before about how Muslim women wearing hijabs seems to set a lot of people off. As for having to say the pledge of allegiance, last year the US Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a provision in Florida law mandating that people must stand for the pledge.

What do you think of Lawrence’s treatment of the hijab-wearing Muslim-American and her subsequent suspension? When does patriotism go too far?

Say What? Why Teen Wants a Boob Job

TresSugar — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:00:41 -0700

"The things I don't like about my body are my breasts. . . . I spend almost 100 percent of my life thinking about it."

- 13-year-old Kianna explains why she thinks a boob job will improve her self-esteem. She says she's envious of her more-developed friends who don't stand out like she does.

A new survey reveals that nine out of ten of teenage girls in the UK are unhappy with their bodies. In a recent program, the BBC had young girls considering plastic surgery, like Kianna, meet with women who have regrets about their own surgeries. After the experience, Kianna changed her mind for now.

Source: Flickr User This Is A Wake Up Call