Some experts worry that once the morning after, or ‘plan b’ pill is on store shelves. teen sexual activity will increase.

“Teenagers that will choose to have sex that weren’t having sex before because they know that the ultimate fear of pregnancy isn’t an ultimate fear anymore,” says Psychologist Nancy McGarrah.

And some teenagers agree.

“They’ll know in the back of their minds ‘o-k, this happens, I’ll just take the pill tomorrow’,” says 18-year-old Lauren Moskowitz.

“If you knew that you could stop fertilization or stop the sperm from coming of course you’re going to do it because there’s a greater chance that you know, you’re not going to get pregnant. So I think it’ll increase sexual activity if the pill is introduced,” adds 19-year-old Angel Goldring.

And.the morning after pill raises another concern. sexually transmitted disease.

“They’ll just realize that they could have sex without a condom and have no worry about it,” says 18-year-old Patrick Sullivan.

“I still hear a lot of kids ignoring the whole concern about STD’s, they’re not, you know, taking it seriously. they’re worried about pregnancy still. That’s what is the big bugaboo,” says Dr. McGarrah.

“I really believe that most of the teenagers are going to think about pregnancy before they think about diseases or stuff like that,” says 18-year-old Kristopher Roberts.

Experts say if the morning after pill is approved for over-the-counter sale. more than ever , parents will need to talk to their teens about sexuality.

“and also tell them what they believe, in terms of their moral position,” says Dr. McGarrah.

And above all, make one point very clear.

“That sexually transmitted diseases are real things and they do exist and no birth control or morning after pill is going to (split) protect you from that,” says Dr. McGarrah.

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

While many people are still not aware of the morning-after pill, students at Somerville (Mass.) High School are getting a crash course on it – literally. Educators at the school have decided to inform their students about the drug, leading to an average of five student inquiries a week. After seeing a health specialist at the school, students are able to get the pill at no charge. The pill, known as Plan B, must be taken within 72 hours of intercourse and differs from the RU-486 abortion pill in that it works by delaying the release of the eggs or by changing the uterine lining so that a fertilized egg will not implant.

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

The most reliable way to prevent unwanted pregnancies is not by using the morning after pill; it’s by abstaining from intercourse in the first place. Open communication and accurate information from parents increase the chance that teens will postpone sex. Experts at the American Medical Association have developed the following list to help parents talk to their children.

• Teens need accurate information and decision-making skills to help protect them from pressure to have sex, unintended pregnancy and HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
• If talking with your teen about sex is difficult for you, admit it. Keep a sense of humor.
• Use TV, movies, articles and real-life situations, such as a friend’s pregnancy, to begin talking about sex.
• Share your values regarding sex. If you believe a person should abstain from sex until marriage, say so.
• Don’t assume that if your teen asks questions about sex, he or she is necessarily thinking about having sex.
• Ask your teen what he or she wants to know about sex. If you don’t know an answer, admit it. Find answers with your teen in books, other resources, or from your health care provider.
• Reassure your teen that not everyone is having sex and that it is okay to be a virgin. The decision to become sexually active is too important to be based on what other people think or do.
• Your first talk with your teen about sex should not be your last. Talk with your teen about sex on an ongoing basis. Let your teen know that you are always willing to talk about any question or concern he or she may have about sex.

In addition, previous studies have shown the following.

• Typically, parents begin talking with their children about sex during the children’s preteen years. Some parents, however, do not begin these discussions until their children are thirteen-years-old, and some parents never discuss sexuality with their children.
• Mothers often assume the primary responsibility for sexual instruction of both their male and female adolescents. Daughters are more often the recipients of sexual instruction than are sons.
• The predominant content of conversations with adolescents revolved around sexual issues and related moral views of right and wrong. Studies noted that these later conversations were important in the transmission of values and morals.
• Children perceive their parents as communicating less about sex than the parents believe they communicated.
• Although parents are a major source of sexual information, peers also play a unique role in the acquisition and transmission of information and values about sexuality. When parents are the major source of sexual information for adolescents, adolescents’ sexual behavior is less risky than when friends are the main source of sexual information.

Centers for Disease Control

Advocates for Youth Campaign
Journal of Marriage and Family

“When I look back in retrospect, I realize how bad
things were and just how depressed I was and how sick I was,”
she says.

Why the turnaround? Years of therapy helped along with something
else – a powerful antipsychotic drug called Zyprexa,
which is traditionally used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder.

“It really is addressing the fact that anorexia is
really a thought disorder. The distorted thinking about body
image is not just, ‘Oh, I feel a little fat.’
It’s when girls are tremendously underweight, a sickly
weight, and they look in the mirror and see themselves as
obese,” says Dr. Dina Zeckhausen, an eating disorders
specialist.

“It wasn’t an instantaneous change, but overall,
I think it was able to like slow down all those thoughts so
I could concentrate on the recovery part,” Haley adds.

In fact, a children’s hospital in Canada found that
when 15 anorexic girls who had resisted all other treatments,
including antidepressants, were put on Zyprexa, all of them
began putting on weight.

But experts stress that physicians and parents should exercise
caution before trying the drug therapy.

“Zyprexa is a very powerful drug and would probably
be used for extreme cases,” Dr. Zeckhausen says.

Zyprexa may cause side effects, such as nervous tics, irregular
blood pressure and extreme drowsiness.

“You don’t want the person walking around feeling
drugged,” Dr. Zeckhausen says.

It may be a last resort, but with more studies, Zyprexa may
prove to be one last option before anorexia ruins a teen’s
life.

“If your child is struggling with an eating disorder
and the course of treatment doesn’t appear to be working,
it might make sense to bring this up to the treatment provider
and see if they’ve considered this,” Dr. Zeckhausen
says.

Anorexia is an eating
disorder characterized by low body weight (less than 85% of
normal weight for height and age), a distorted body image
and an intense fear of gaining weight. According to Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital Medical Center, it affects as many as
16% of U.S. females aged 14 to 24 and has one of the highest
mortality rates among mental illnesses due to suicide and
complications from starvation.

While no single cause of an eating disorder exists, the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) cites the following reasons why
many teens develop them:

• Insecure feeling
• An excessive desire to be in control
• A distorted body image (feeling fat) and striving for
  the perfect body
• A family history of depression or an eating disorder
• Severe family problems
• A history of sexual abuse
• Extreme social pressures
• Pressure from activities, such as running, gymnastics,
  wrestling or ballet

Recognizing the early signs of an eating disorder is important
for successful treatment. Otherwise, it may be too late. The
AAP says that if your child answers “yes” to any
of the following statements, you should seek medical help
for him or her immediately:

• I cannot stop dieting, even though my family and friends
  warn me that I have lost too much weight.
• Even though I have lost a lot of weight, when I look in
  the mirror I still think that certain parts of my body are
  fat.
• I cannot stop exercising.
• I do not get my menstrual period monthly (for females).

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical
Center says that treatment for anorexia will be determined
by your child’s physician based on the following factors:

• Age, overall health and medical history
• Extent of symptoms
• Tolerance for specific medications, procedures or therapies
• Expectations for the course of the condition

Anorexia is usually treated with a combination of individual
therapy, family therapy, behavior modification and nutritional
rehabilitation. Regardless of the treatment method, as a parent
you can do a great deal to improve your child’s situation.
The Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc., offers
the following tips for helping your anorexic child:

• If your child shows signs of an
  eating disorder, avoid denial. Get him or her a thorough
  evaluation and treatment if it is indicated. The sooner
  treatment begins, the sooner recovery can be achieved. Remember,
  too, that first symptoms are much easier to reverse than
  behaviors that have become entrenched.
• If your child’s doctor or counselor
  recommends hospitalization, do it. It may be lifesaving.
  It also may interrupt deeply ingrained behavior patterns
  that no other intervention can touch.
• If family counseling is recommended,
  do it. The purpose of such sessions is not to blame
  you for the eating disorder but rather to help everyone
  create and maintain satisfying ways of relating and negotiating
  conflicts. Family counseling has another bonus: It shows
  your child how reasonable people consult experts to solve
  overwhelming problems. It also gives you a safe place to
  deal with your painful feelings.
• Model healthy, effective coping
  behavior for your loved ones. When you are stressed,
  avoid turning to alcohol, other drugs, anger or other destructive
  habits. Teach your child by your example how to solve problems
  and meet needs by making, and following, logical action
  plans.
• Model healthy food and exercise
  behaviors, too. Talk about the differences between
  dieting (does not work and can lead to binge eating) and
  healthy meal plans. Never criticize your own body. Never
  criticize anyone’s body. If you do, you send a message to
  your child that you accept nothing less than perfection.
  Follow an exercise plan that includes regular, moderate
  amounts of healthy activity, not compulsive, driven competition.
• Eat together as a family at least
  once a day. As much as possible, keep mealtimes social,
  happy and fun. Talk about issues other than food, calories
  and weight.
• Last, but by no means least, take
  care of yourself. You are under tremendous stress.
  Participate regularly in some sort of stress reduction program,
  something that relaxes your body, soothes your mind and
  gives you something else to think about for a few hours.

It is important to understand that anorexia is an illness
that can be treated successfully. But the key to helping your
child is prevention. The National Eating Disorders Association
advises you to examine closely your own behaviors and attitude
in order to prevent your child from developing an eating disorder:

• Consider your thoughts, attitudes and behaviors toward
  your own body and the way that these beliefs have been shaped
  by the forces of weightism and sexism. Then educate your
  child about the genetic basis for the natural diversity
  of human body shapes and sizes and the nature and ugliness
  of prejudice.
• Make an effort to maintain positive, healthy attitudes
  and behaviors. Your child learns from the things you say
  and do! Avoid conveying an attitude which says, in effect,
  “I will like you more if you lose weight, don’t eat
  so much, look more like the slender models in ads, fit into
  smaller clothes, etc.”
• Make a commitment not to avoid activities (such as swimming,
  sunbathing, dancing, etc.) simply because they call attention
  to your weight and shape. Refuse to wear clothes that are
  uncomfortable or that you don’t like but wear simply because
  they divert attention from your weight or shape.
• Make a commitment to exercise for the joy of feeling your
  body move and grow stronger, not to purge fat from your
  body or to compensate for calories eaten.
• Practice taking people seriously for what they say, feel
  and do, not for how slender or “well put together”
  they appear.
• Help your child appreciate and resist the ways in which
  television, magazines and other media distort the true diversity
  of human body types and imply that a slender body means
  power, excitement, popularity or perfection.
• Encourage your child to be active and to enjoy what his
  or her body can do and feel like. Do not limit his or her
  caloric intake unless a physician requests that you do this
  because of a medical problem.
• Do whatever you can to promote the self-esteem and self-respect
  of your child in intellectual, athletic and social endeavors.
  Give boys and girls the same opportunities and encouragement.
  Be careful not to suggest that females are less important
  than males. A well-rounded sense of self and solid self-esteem
  are perhaps the best antidotes to dieting and disordered
  eating.

American
Academy of Pediatrics
Anorexia Nervosa
and Related Eating Disorders, Inc.
Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital Medical Center
National
Eating Disorders Association