UK Government to crack down on underage drinking, targeting parents, but it’s not that easy

The British Government has announced plans to tackle the increasing problem of underage drinking, and is planning to prosecute parents who allow their children to drink in public.

If proposals became law, anyone under the age of 18 “regularly” found with alcohol on their possession could face getting an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order).

Parents who are unable to change their ways could either be prosecuted, or sent on parenting courses. However, the problem isn’t that simple, say a number of parents as well as opposition ministers.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said that, “parents must play their role. I want to see greater use of parenting orders and parenting contracts and anti-social behaviour orders when young people are caught persistently drinking in public. If parents and children need to meet a trained worker to get them back on the right track then so be it.”

I know that the police will already move on groups of teenagers who are, or have the potential, to cause a nuisance, particularly as a result of alcohol.

Of course parenting plays a role in a child’s upbringing, but there are so many other factors that influence someone’s attitude to and consumption of alcohol — the increasing number of “alcopops” and other “soft” alcoholic drinks, peer pressure from friends, portrayal of alcohol in the media and popular TV, and the increasingly ingrained drinking culture are key issues.

Legislation may look good on paper, and may prove to be somewhat effective, but the real issues run deep in society, and unfortunately even good parenting doesn’t always protect children.

The Government also plans to draw up guidelines for how much alcohol it is safe for children to consume under supervision of their parents at home.

(Via BBC News)

Protect Your Adolescents Against More Than Just A Cold This Winter

As a parent, you often take extra health precautions to protect your child from “winter” illnesses such as colds and the flu, but the National Meningitis Association (NMA) wants to be sure you know about one preventative health measure that is often overlooked — vaccination against meningococcal disease.

Meningococcal disease, commonly called meningitis, is a potentially deadly bacterial infection that can strike adolescents and young adults. The disease moves quickly and can lead to death or permanent disability, such as brain damage, organ failure or limb amputations, within hours of first symptoms. While meningococcal disease can occur at any point throughout the year, cases peak in the late-winter and early-spring months reinforcing the importance of seeking vaccination this time of year rather than waiting for back-to-school physicals.

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Top 10 health topics parents wish their doctor would discuss with kids

A recent study has discovered the most important topics that parents would like their doctor to talk to their teenage children about during routine check-ups.

While there were differences between different ethnic groups and genders, these were the top ten most popular subjects overall:

1. Diet/nutrition
2. Exercise/sports
3. Physical changes of puberty
4. Drug use
5. Tobacco use
6. Sexually transmitted disease
7. Depression/suicide
8. Obesity
9. Drinking
10. Eating disorders

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Girls who eat with their families less likely to do extreme diets

Yet again, more research which shows the benefits of families eating together.

Teens who frequently (five or more times per week) eat together with the rest of their family are less likely to use extreme methods — such as binge eating and self-induced vomiting — to control their weight five years later.

That’s according to research by Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota and lead investigator of Project Eating Among Teens (Project EAT) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

The same doesn’t appear to be true for boys.

“Health care professionals have an important role to play in reinforcing the benefits of family meals, helping families set realistic goals for increasing family meal frequency given schedules of adolescents and their parents; exploring ways to enhance the atmosphere at family meals with adolescents; and discussing strategies for creating healthful and easy-to-prepare family meals,” said Neumark-Sztainer. “Schools and community organizations should also be encouraged to make it easier for families to have shared mealtimes on a regular basis.”

(Via Insight News)

Teens place “health” low down on list of priorities

A new study from the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) shows that teenagers are putting their health at risk, because they place very little importance on it.

47% of teenagers say that if they experienced any pain or felt unwell, they would do nothing and simply hope that the problem went away.

For boys aged 13 to 19, friends are the single most important thing in their life, followed by social life, money, family and the way they look.

For girls, friends are also most important, but Britain’s teen queens are pre-occupied with the way they look too - their appearance is their other main concern, way above their health and well being.

Commenting on these disturbing findings Tim Hutchful of the BCA said, ““Today’’s teens have become so engrossed in their social lives and with their appearance that the most important thing, their personal health, seems to have slipped off their agenda. Many teenagers are ignoring aches and pains which could lead to back and joint problems in later life.””

62% of teenagers have already experienced back ache, yet less that 5% of teenagers said they would actually look to seek advice from a doctor or health professional, such as a chiropractor.

The survey also revealed:

• 53% boys and 63% girls spend between one and two hours a day using social networking sites like Facebook and Bebo.
• 75% of girls spend between one to three hours a day emailing friends.
• 66% of girls and 48% of boys spend a minimum of one hour ‘preening themselves every day.
• Over three quarters (77%) of teen males and 84% of teen girls spend a minimum of five hours or more a week socialising with friends.
• Only one in five teen males spend just an hour a week exercising outside of school or college.
• 16% of males and 22% of females admit to not exercising at all in their free time.

Sleeping in an awkward position was cited as the largest cause of back pain amongst Britain’s teens (81%), followed by carrying heavy bags (76%) as well as sitting for long periods of time in the same position (59%).

This year the BCA has launched Straighten Up UK, a simple 3-minute exercise programme designed to improve posture. By incorporating just a few simple exercises into their daily routine, teenagers can really make a difference to their health. Visit  www.straightenupuk.org for more information.

September 24: Family Day - A Day To Eat Together With Your Children

I’ve written before about the importance of families eating together whenever they can. It can bond the family together, aid communication, and could help teens avoid social problems, amongst many other benefits.

The Kroger Company has partnered with The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse to encourage families to share a meal together this coming Monday, 24th September, to celebrate Family Day: A Day To Eat Together With Your Children.

Their research consistently suggests that the more children eat together with their parents, the less likely they are to take drugs, drink, or smoke. Of course, it takes more than eating together to achieve that, but it’s a great reason to start.

They offer six tips for encouraging and keeping shared mealtimes:

1. Start the pattern of family meals when children are young.
2. Encourage children to create menu ideas and participate in meal preparation.
3. Talk about what happened in everyone’s day:  school, work, extracurricular activities and current events.
4. Keep conversation positive and make sure everyone gets a chance to speak.
5. Turn off the TV and let your answering machine answer calls during family meals.
6. After the meal, serve dessert or play a board game to encourage the family to continue the conversation.

“Sharing meals together as a family is a simple, powerful and effective tool to help children and teens avoid risky behaviors. Family meals are an ideal time to talk with your children and listen to what’s on their mind. We support Family Day because building strong, healthy families is at the core of our business,” said David B. Dillon, Kroger chairman and chief executive officer.

In related news, TV Land will “go dark” between 6pm and 7pm (ET/PT) on the day, to encourage families to dine together.

Viewers tuning in to The Family Day Dinner Hour will see photos submitted to TVLand.com of various families sharing meals and spending time together. Packaged like a scrapbook, the hour will display montages of the photos along with Family Day graphics, all set to easy-listening Americana and Jazz music.

www.casafamilyday.org

Back to school tips for helping your child manage peer pressure

The Californian Association of Marriage and Family Therapists has put together a list of six things parents can do to help with the burden of peer pressure:

1. Talk about drinking, drugs, and other harmful behaviour, maintaining open communication and understanding your children’s opinions.
2. Talk about your children’s concerns and pressures.
3. Help your child to prioritise important items and form achievement goals.
4. Use TV and movies to start discussions about appropriate and inappropriate ways of responding to negative classmates and peer pressure.
5. Invite your children’s friends home and understand the social groups they are in.
6. Address concerns your children have quickly, ensuring they don’t develop into long-term problems. Consider your children’s point-of-view when resolving image issues.

www.therapistfinder.com

“Morning after pill” could encourage teen sex

Concerns have been raised by the Family and Youth Concern organisation that giving out the “morning after pill” to under 16s can encourage them to have sex.

“It inevitably results in young men putting pressure on vulnerable girls to have sex by telling them that if they are worried about getting pregnant, they can always go to the school nurse and get the morning-after pill without anyone needing to know,” he said.

He cited a number of studies, 23 from 10 countries, that suggests that increased access to the pill has not made any difference to unintended pregnancy or the abortion rate.

Others in Suffolk, where a number of schools now give the morning after pill to girls as young as 13 in complete confidence, disagree.

Emrys Green, chairman of the Bury St Edmunds Youth Council, said, “I think it’s a good thing the morning-after pill can be given out in schools. At least it gives young girls a choice to live their lives and not their parents’ lives.

“It’s their choice whether they want to involve them or not. Just because the morning-after pill is available it doesn’t mean girls will have sex before they’re ready. If they wanted the morning-after pill that bad, they would go to the doctor anyway.”

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Parents have greater influence over their teens than they believe

New research from MVParents.com suggests that, whereas 3 out of 4 parents believe that their teenage child’s friends and classmates have the most influence on when they start drinking alcohol, teens that were questioned say that it’s their parents that have the biggest impact on the choices they make.

The same seems to be true for a number of other aspects, though the survey was commissioned by Coors, which is why there’s a focus on underage drinking.

In any case, Dr. Peter Benson of Search Institute says these conflicting beliefs demonstrate the crux of a key issue facing parents of teenagers: What parents say and do makes more of a difference than they think it does.

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Teens and pre-teens increase cell phone use during the summer

When school’s out, children and teenagers are increasingly to be found using their mobile phone, according to a new Disney Mobile Cell and Tell survey by Harris Interactive.

Teen and tween cell phone use in the summer jumps to more than 3 hours and 45 minutes a day, an increase of more than an hour a day as compared with a normal school day.

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Stress hormone does funny things to teens

If you’re looking for a reason why teenagers suffer with mood swings, researchers may have found the answer:

Researchers have discovered that a hormone produced by the body in response to stress, which normally calms adults and younger children, instead increases anxiety in adolescents.

They conducted experiments with female mice focusing on the hormone THP that demonstrated this paradoxical effect, and described the brain mechanism that explains it.

If, as the scientists suspect, the same thing happens in people, the phenomenon may help account for the mood swings and anxiety exhibited by many adolescents, they said.

Read (via The Age)

Parents get to understand MySpace and connect with their kids using myspacemykids.com

The MySpace MyKids project is a new user-friendly website designed to familiarize parents with social networking and help them protect their kids.

It’s a powerful educational program for parents who want to not only protect their children, but also better understand and connect with their teens.

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