Nutrition
Healthy eating is vital for growth and development for babies through their teen years - and ensures good habits for adulthood.
Obesity in Children
Article: Military health experts highlight need for U.S. youth to maintain healthy weight
(April 2023)
A growing epidemic among U.S. children 2 to 19 years,
children diagnosed as "overweight" or "obese" can have mental health issues, may be bullied, and are more likely to develop high blood pressure, diabetes, and asthma which put them at higher risk for diseases such as COVID. To reduce child weight problems parents should
encourage healthier behaviors and help ensure children reduce junk food and sugary drinks to
maintain a healthy diet, AND
get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day.
Teenagers
Society is full of opportunities for your teenager to make a poor decision that can affect the rest of their lives - or lead to death. What can you do? At a minimum, talk to them early on about risky behaviors to avoid and encourage regular communications, but also check in with them from time to time. Topics to talk to your teenager about include:
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Drugs and
alcohol use - lead to addictions, lethal overdoses, risky sexual behaviors, and thousands of severe or fatal accidents each year.
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Unsafe driving - a leading reason for teen deaths, largely due to not wearing seat belts, alcohol/drugs, and most recently phone/text use.
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Smoking and vaping - youth nicotine use can lead to addiction and can harm the developing brain, impacting learning, memory, and attention.
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Depression and suicide - Extreme depression can lead a child to think about suicide; suicide is the leading cause of death in 10-24 year olds; being bullied adds to the risk.
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Teenage sex - safe sex education is important to reduce teen pregnancy but also to avoid spread of various diseases.
Violence and Child Maltreatment
If a child you know may be a victim of neglect or abuse, please help prevent these
adverse childhood experiences. Click here for
MORE information.
