BodiMojo Blog

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 an appropriate ending note for a year of both disturbing and encouraging developments and findings in teen health. Swine flu withstanding, here is a smattering of selected highlights:

It’s Your Move: Just about a year ago, here in Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick launched Mass in Motion, http://www.mass.gov/massinmotion, a multi-faceted effort that promotes a broad range of wellness activities for Massachusetts residents, businesses and communities. It’s the most comprehensive effort to date to address the serious problem of overweight and obesity in the Commonwealth. Although compared to other states, The Bay State ranks favorably, overweight and obesity are still major public health problems, with almost one-third of high school and middle school students in Massachusetts tipping the scales.

Health Report Card: Lest you think that teens are too busy watching vampires kissing to pay attention to a balanced diet, think again, according to the S.K.I.P. (Scarborough Kids Internet Panel) teen health perceptions survey http://www.scarborough.com/press_releases/SKIP%20Teen%20Health%20Perceptions%20Study%20FINAL%208.24.09.pdf which found that today’s teens are very aware of what it means to be healthy, with 66 percent giving themselves a B- or higher on healthy lifestyle. While the CDC and other health agencies might beg to differ, teens themselves say they’ve cut back on the amount of fast food consumed (64 percent) and the majority (69 percent) think they’re physically fit. Let’s hope so – with between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents obese, gains need to be made, if you’ll excuse the pun.

Social Networking on STDs: The Boston Public Health Commission took a page from other public awareness campaigns that have used Facebook and YouTube to raise awareness (like Obama’s successful run for presidency, ‘natch) and has adopted viral messaging to educate teens about sexually transmitted diseases. http://www.facebook.com/bostonsexED The Boston sexED FB page says, “A perfect score on the SATs might be hard, but preventing STIs isn’t.” At last count, there were 1,557 fans.

Teen Behaviors: The longitudinal Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS) is conducted as part of a national effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor health-risk behaviors of the nation’s high school students. http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdf/yrbs07_us_overview.pdf

Although the self-reporting survey may be slightly skewed, it found, among other things, that the culprit behind the weight gain in the teens studied (16,000 high school students between the ages of 15 and 18) was not a decrease in exercise but increase in consumption. http://bodimojo.com/blog/lack-of-exercise-may-not-be-only-culprit-in-teen-obesity-study/ Another finding: high school students who smoke cigarettes and try to quit often fail. We don’t want to preach, but the old adage still holds true: just don’t start, then you don’t have to stop. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5443NX20090505

Delete Button: Online bullying can have disturbing psychosocial consequences for teens, even leading to suicide. That’s why MTV’s launch of A Thin Line, a new initiative to stop the spread of digital abuse – cyberbullying, sexting, and digital dating abuse – is sorely needed, with more than half of teens reporting receiving digital abusive behavior. The campaign is built on the idea there’s a “thin line” between what might begin as a prank or a joke and then potentially turn into a devastating disaster. http://bodimojo.com/blog/kudos-to-mtv-launch-of-a-thin-line/ Today’s teens are the first to have to deal with this, so they need to know how to defend their digital domain with dignity and support.

Ring, Ring: Speaking of sexting, a shocking 20 percent of teens admit to sending nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures via text messages, according to a nationwide survey by the National Campaign to Support Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/sextech/PDF/SexTech_Summary.pdf It’s more troubling evidence that techno-kids today are engaging in behavior with consequences that they might not completely grasp or anticipate. A Pew report also described the pressure that some teens feel to send these types of images. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Teens-and-Sexting.aspx The bottom line? Add the instant connection via mobile devices to the usual risk-taking and sexual exploration which have always existed during teen years, and you get a “perfect storm” of coming-of-age in the digital era.

Hope abounds. Leave it to the Girls Scouts to boost the spirits with their nationwide survey – a 10 year follow up – that finds that today’s teens have level heads, and in fact are making a shift toward more civic engagement and more responsible beliefs and values. Teens are more likely to vote when old enough, give to charity, and volunteer in their own community. The survey, Good Intentions: The Beliefs and Values of Teens and Tweens Today, also finds that teens report greater intention to save sex until marriage, and are more accepting of gay relationships, racial and ethnic diversity, and personal choices. For the skeptic reader out there, this was based on a national sample of 3,263 students – boys and girls in grades 3 through 12 both in and out of scouting. Knowing lots of teens, the BodiMojo crew feels this to be true. Teens are more engaged and online and offline.

So, WUP (What’s Up) for 2010? We don’t dare to guess, but you can bet that the key trends of social media, mobile culture, globalization, and healthcare will continue to make developments at warp speed.