IN THE NEWS

A Wake-Up Call to Parents

Parents apparently know far less about their teen daughters' lives than they think they do. In a new survey of over 600 teen girls in grades 9 to 12, which was just conducted by Harris Interactive, nearly half of high school students reported never having spoken to their parents about such topics as sex, drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. More than one-third (38%) of teen girls disagreed with the statement, "I can talk to my parents about anything." As a result of this lack of communication, parents are misinformed. Three times as many girls are engaging in behaviors such as bingeing and purging than their parents believe. While 75% of girls say they personally know someone their own age who has been pregnant, far fewer parents are concerned with the issues of teen pregnancy. And while parents think their daughters are stressed-out by peer pressure to drink, do drugs, and have sex, girls report a whole different source of stress: their relationships with parents and friends. What parents may be surprised to know is this: over half of surveyed teen girls said they wanted to spend more time with their families.

Why Teen Girls Shouldn't Skip Breakfast

It is well-known that students in middle school and high school who eat breakfast are providing their brains the fuel needed to perform optimally. But a new study demonstrates yet another reason teen girls shouldn't skip breakfast. Researchers at the University of Minnesota discovered that the more adolescents eat breakfast, the less likely they are to become overweight. There is a direct relationship between eating breakfast and a lower body mass index (BMI), perhaps because teens who consistently ate breakfast consumed greater amounts of carbohydrates and fiber--which are more satisfying and thereby make people less likely to eat more later in the day--got fewer calories from fat, and exercised more.