Author archives: Cindy Atoji

433 days ago

BodiMojo Gets Mojo at SXSW Start-Up Accelerator Competition

Cindy Atoji
29

The SXSW Accelerator attracts some of digital’s most creative minds as well as visionary technological entrepreneurs. And this year, out of hundreds of applications, BodiMojo, Inc. was selected as a finalist in the Health category for the 4th annual competition, which is presented by Microsoft BizSpark. BodiMojo’s founder and clinical psychologist, Tara Cousineau, PhD, will introduce a new health technology product for teen girls and young women at the Austin, Texas, conference.“BodiMojo [...]

467 days ago

BodiMojo at TeenLife Fair in Boston

Cindy Atoji
7

TeenLife’s slogan is “bringing out the best in teens.” We are so there when it comes to this type of mission! Look for BodiMojo at the TeenLife LIVE-Boston 2012 Fair in Newton, at Chestnut Hill Mall. At least 500 teens are expected to attend this Sunday, 12-4 p.m. Come check it out (and p.s. TeenLife is giving out freebie gift bags.) You can register for free at the TeenLife website [...]

495 days ago

BodiMojo Founder Talks About Entrepreneurship

Cindy Atoji
27

BodiMojo founder Tara Cousineau (“Dr. Tara”) is featured this week on SmartGirls Way, a social-venture dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs. Tara’s video is part of 100×100 Project, which celebrates successful women entrepreneurs and provides video case studies and other interactive forums for aspiring entrepreneurs to learn from other women. Tara, a clinical psychologist and eHealth entrepreneur, founded BodiMojo as an innovative solution to help teenagers take control of their health, [...]

500 days ago

Gazing into our crystal ball for 2012 and teens

Cindy Atoji
8

We gazed into our crystal ball for 2012 and made the following predictions from our BodiMojo team of health and fitness and confidence advocates. “Kids will get together to stop the bullies from bullying!” – Stacey Butler Deem “I predict that teens will play less video games and enjoy the outdoors more!–Kerri Kalinski “Teens will start to move past the stress of academics and social pressure so they can enjoy [...]

677 days ago

Yikes, It's Back to School Time Already

Cindy Atoji
4

Hey teens, if you feel like summer is whizzing by faster than a roller coaster at Six Flags, don’t step foot in a store. This Sunday, many retailers such as Target are unveiling their back to school supplies. Yikes. What’s the date today? June 12? Some retailers, such as Toys R Us, started as early as July 1 to roll out backpacks and lunch pails. The stores are hoping to [...]

717 days ago

A New Plate to Swallow for Nutritional Guidelines

Cindy Atoji
13

Forget the food pyramid – ‘My Plate’ is the new nutritional symbol. In the latest effort to get Americans to eat better, the USDA has retired the old healthy eating diagram, which has been roasted or even fried at times as confusing and misleading. But will this effort to simplify and understand healthy eating habits make an impact? Hillary M. Wright, M.Ed, R.D., L.D.N., BodiMojo’s nutrition guru and author of “The [...]

788 days ago

Teen Tech Advisor Plugs into BodiMojo

Cindy Atoji
10

Health and fitness has always been important to Steffen Holm, 15, of La Jolla, Calif. A sophomore at Bishops School, located in a San Diego suburb, Holm is on the water polo and swimming team and competes in triathlons outside of school, swimming, biking, and running. “I live a healthy life through athletics,” said Holm. Holm also has a passion for computer programming, which he has done for four years, [...]

796 days ago

BodiMojo Talks with Young Broadcasters of America

Cindy Atoji
14

Young Broadcasters of America is known for their cutting-edge journalism – by teens, for teens – and interesting stories and bylines in multiple medias. Last Sunday evening, BodiMojo founder and creator Tara Cousineau visited with hosts Julia and Devon on Back Talk Teen, a live call-in talk show, produced by Young Broadcasters of America. In this program, airing on YouTube, Sophia Kohn sings, followed by Cousineau, who talked about how [...]

821 days ago

Three Truths about Tiger Moms

Cindy Atoji
10

We’ve all read the tough-parenting stories from self-professed Tiger Mother Amy Chua, a Yale law professor who prides herself on raising her daughters the “Chinese way.” “She’s a monster,” was the all-too frequent comment, after the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother arrived in bookstores last month. As the product of Asian American authoritative parenting myself, I have had my own “Little White Donkey” incidents. I wasn’t forced to practice [...]

1025 days ago

Summer Reading Isn't for the Birds

Cindy Atoji
7

In Lexington, Mass., my hometown, teens are reading books like “Into the Wild” (Jon Krakauer), “The Awakening” (Kate Chopin) and “A Street Car Named Desire” (Tennessee Williams, of course). But they’re not necessarily at the local library or bookstore because they’re bibliophiles – this literature is required reading at the Lexington High School. When my son had required reading lists during the summer, he looked at it as a fun-in-the-sun [...]

1062 days ago

BodiMojo goes to Salzburg: International Conference on Eating Disorders

Cindy Atoji
23

BodiMojo founder Tara Cousineau, Ph.D, recently attended a meeting of the Academy of Eating Disorders, June 10-12, in Salzburg, Austria. The 2010 International Conference on Eating Disorders is a primary gathering place for professionals and advocates engaged in research, treatment and prevention of eating disorders. ICED attendees, faculty, supporters and exhibitors create a unique and inspiring environment for education, training, collaboration and dialogue. We asked Cousineau to talk about her [...]

1065 days ago

Eating Disorders: Not just an Adolescent Illness

Cindy Atoji
13

Eating disorders are often depicted as the tragic consequence of teen fame, but women of all ages can suffer from its hold. A surprising number of “Desperate Housewives” in their late 40s and 50s are relapsing after having overcome an eating disorder in their youth, while others are experiencing them for the first time in mid-life. Experts are treating an increasing number of women who are engaging in self-destructive behaviors [...]

1096 days ago

! (I Have a Comment) on Texting

Cindy Atoji
25

In my household, we have two extremes: the techno-dinosaur husband who refuses to carry a cell phone and has trouble even accessing his email, and, on the other hand, the ever-texting teen, who is constantly being pinged: at the dinner table; past bedtime, and even in the bathroom. On one hand, the archaic husband can never be reached to buy that carton of milk; the teen can never be bothered, [...]

1152 days ago

Fighting Obesity at Local Level: Recovery Act at Work

Cindy Atoji
13

Just last month, Michelle Obama’s campaign to end childhood obesity promised to get kids moving and revamp school lunches – an effort that involves family and community. Now, the grassroots-level obesity push continues with Communities Putting Prevention to Work: as part of the recovery act, 44 states, including here in Massachusetts, were awarded funds for obesity and tobacco prevention. Local governments play a crucial role by shaping environments that make it [...]

1174 days ago

How Millennial Are You?

Cindy Atoji
22

OK, so I just took a Pew Research Center test on “How Millennial are You?” My score was 40 out of a possible 100, showing that I’m not so Millennial, even though my score was boosted by having a Facebook profile, sending a couple text messages in the last 24 hours, and not yet reading a newspaper today. Pew’s recently released study of the attitudes of this generation (born starting [...]

1195 days ago

Michelle Obama Tackles Childhood Obesity: Game-Changing Tactics Needed

Cindy Atoji
28

First Lady Michelle Obama formally announced today a “very ambitious” initiative to end childhood obesity, one of her signature causes. “We want to eliminate this problem of childhood obesity in a generation. We want to get that done,” said Obama, in the launching of the national campaign, “Let’s Move,” which aims to educate parents, make healthier food more affordable and accessible, and encourage physical activity. The carefully orchestrated rollout includes [...]

1235 days ago

Year in Review: BodiMojo Looks Back

Cindy Atoji
13

By Cindy Atoji Keene, Editor, with Tara Cousineau, PhD, Founder, BodiMojo.com Last week, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that included a historic new investment in efforts to prevent teen pregnancy. The funding, which includes a total of $114 million for a new evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention program, is the first and only large-scale federal investment dedicated to preventing teen pregnancy through interventions with proof of success. http://www.news-medical.net/news/20091215/The-United-States-Senate-passes-funding-for-teen-pregnancy-prevention-program.aspx It was [...]

1276 days ago

Lack of Exercise May Not Be Only Culprit in Teen Obesity: Study

Cindy Atoji
29

Lack of Exercise May Not Be Only Culprit in Teen Obesity: Study A surprising new study, published earlier this month in the journal Obesity Reviews, showed that the amount of exercise among teens hasn’t decreased significantly over the past two decades, even while obesity rates among youngsters have skyrocketed. Does this mean that exercise isn’t important in controlling weight? Here’s my take on this: as a runner, I’ve always wanted [...]

1301 days ago

Txtspeak - Does It Impact Teen's Spelling Abilities?

Cindy Atoji
6

OMG. I sent my 17-year-old son a txt msg the other day and he got mad. “Why are you using all those abbreviations?” he fumed in his reply. “Kids don’t really talk like that in their text messages; adults just think that they do.” With more than 82 million people texting regularly, maybe my cryptic code was off base, but Internet acronyms and text message jargon are part of the [...]

1314 days ago

BodiMojo's a Top Vote Getter at Health 2.0

Cindy Atoji
35

This just in: Health 2.0’s Launch! featured a rapid-fire preview of the most exciting product and company introductions in health care this year. And guess what: at this user-generated healthcare conference, recently wrapped up in San Fran, among some really tough competition (health interfaces, personalized decision support tools, and more), BodiMojo was chosen third among 11 companies presenting new products. Among other action-packed demos of new services and products, BodiMojo [...]

1323 days ago

BodiMojo Leaps into Health 2.0

Cindy Atoji
5

Splash. After over a year of planning, meetings, and collaboration – and so much brain-grinding that you can possibly see the smoke in San Fran – BodiMojo is testing the waters for the first time publically at the Health 2.0 conference this week, including making its debut at the “Launch!” session on Oct. 7. What is BodiMojo? Simply put, it is an interactive, Web-based program for teens ages 14-18, to [...]

1518 days ago

Grrrr... Teen Stress Follows Into Adulthood: Study

Cindy Atoji
10

Ahhh, the teen-age years: the first kiss, the freedom of a driver’s license, the glory of staying up all night. It’s the agony and ecstasy of being young and innocent; a time of highs and lows, when the stresses of life seem particularly edgy. “I’ll just die if he breaks up with me.” “My SAT score s—cks.” “Won’t my parents ever stop arguing?” It’s already known that child and teen [...]

1532 days ago

BT, FT (By Teens, For Teens): T's BMJ (That's BodiMojo)

Cindy Atoji
27

Teens have always had a mind – and language – all their own, but with today’s cyber-teens, even more so. They’re plugged in, they’re mobile, and if there’s an aitr (adult in the room), well, ttyl (talk to you later). Since BodiMojo is all about teens, we’ve made it our goal to be “for teens, by teens.” That way, instead of trying to capture teen-think, we’ve got teens themselves doing [...]

1563 days ago

Obesity: The challenge remains for all of us

Cindy Atoji
18

“F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America,” a recent report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is certainly a hefty document, worthy of its weighty topic. The report calls for the creation of a National Strategy to Combat Obesity and includes state-by-state data about obesity rates as well as legislation. Experts estimate if we keep on our current course, 75 [...]

1602 days ago

2008 Health Flashback: Naughty and Nice News to End the Year

Cindy Atoji
3

We’re compiling a year-end naughty or nice column for 2008. Here’s what we found: Naughty?: Statins are known as a wonder drug for their ability to lower cholesterol and reduce heart attack risk. And now, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended cholesterol testing for kids as young as age 2—and tots can get these meds as early as age 8. But will this encourage some docs to prescribe drugs [...]

1612 days ago

Food For Thought During Girl Scout Cookie Time

Cindy Atoji
15

Here’s a fun bite of trivia. It’s almost Girl Scout cookie time. And as part of my many occupational “hats,” I recently interviewed Kace Wilson, product sales manager for the Girl Scouts in eastern Massachusetts. She’s the logistical brain behind coordinating the annual cookie sale for more than 45,000 girls, directing 17,000 volunteers in 178 communities. The Girl Scout cookie sale runs from Jan. 2 through March 15. Now, Girl [...]

1619 days ago

New Health Rx for Obesity? Take Two Books and Call Me In the Morning

Cindy Atoji
34

Could reading a book be a possible treatment for childhood obesity? Duke University researchers say yes: the right kind of book can help kids lose weight. And that’s no fairy tale. The Duke researchers asked overweight girls between ages nine to 13 who were already enrolled in a comprehensive weight loss program to read a novel called “Lake Rescue” (Beacon Street Girls), an age-appropriate book carefully crafted with the help [...]