Parenting Pointers: Parenting Through Puberty

My daughter turns eleven today, so we are definitely in puberty now. It can be a challenging time, and I was happy to have the chance to review Parenting Through Puberty: Mood Swings, Acne, and Growing Pains (also available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble). This book is very comprehensive, covering the five stages of puberty, what's normal and what's not, warning signs for a variety of disorders, developing self-control and emotional resilience, and much more.

Parts of this book I already knew, especially since I'm required to take training relevant to adolescents for my teaching license. It was still a great resource, giving me a broader base of knowledge as well as a more specific health-related background in topics that are particularly important during puberty.

I have a chance to share more information with this author interview.

What about puberty do you find so interesting?

• Puberty is a time in a child’s life that often gets a bum rap and it’s also a period of great anxiety for parents. More than anything else, parents going through puberty with their child tell me that they are worried. They might not all worry about exactly the same things, but they are all worried about something. As a pediatrician, for over 30 years, and the mother of 3 grown sons, as well as a step-daughter, I felt that I could offer a great deal of evidence-based knowledge and anecdotal material to help families feel less worried and more confident and secure raising their teens.

You talk about the Culture of Obesity in the book, what is that all about?

• The Culture of Obesity is my designation and the Twitter handle that I use to talk about the role that society plays in tempting our poor health choices and undermining some of our best health-minded efforts. Obesity is often considered as an individual problem, but when we are aware of being manipulated and controlled by forces beyond our control, it can be empowering. The culture of obesity consists of the 4 layers of causality and the forces within those layers affecting the individual:

ïThe Interpersonal Layer

ïMuch that happens here is dependent on the prevailing health literacy of the 

    people involved.

ïThe Organization Layer

ïThe places where we work and attend school

ïThe Communities Layer

ïWhere we live and where we play

ïThe Governmental Layer

ïThe policies that set standards

Can you give us any examples of how these “layers of causality” in our ongoing culture of obesity actually impact the well-being of a teenager’s everyday life?

• I address with teens their concerns about their ability to make healthy choices and I’ll ask them about barriers that they might have in being successful with staying or getting healthier. Invariably they will tell me about how difficult it is to achieve the hour of necessary moderate-vigorous activity that is recommended and that their school doesn’t really provide all of the needed time in gym. This is an example of the forces within the organizational layer. Sometimes Schools may remove PE from the curriculum or greatly limit it because it is time perceived as more important for other areas of learning. Sometimes it is limited due to budgetary constraints, but physical activity has been shown definitively by many innovative studies to not detract from learning and actually to enhance the ability to learn – so finding ways to give children the physical activity that is recommended is a win/win for education and health!

How might you use this concept of the culture of obesity to influence teens directly?

• I love to tell teens about a study which specifically addressed how to capitalize on typical and predictable adolescent behavior in an effort to promote positive change. At a very large middle school a first group of students was given a conventional article with standard information on healthy eating. The second group of students read about the deceptive marketing techniques that are used to entice food sales for predominantly unhealthy foods. The article also discussed how certain additives in foods, such as sugar, salt, and fat, make the development of unhealthy food preferences likely and very difficult to change. The study positioned those in control of these marketing campaigns as authoritative, controlling adults and subsequently positioned the rejection of junk food as a method of rebellion against this control. At the end of this course there was a seemingly unrelated large celebration at the school where snacks were available. It was shown that the group with the discussion about the deceptive food marketing tactics and its impact on unhealthy eating took significantly less unhealthy snacks, demonstrating something that we know appeals to this age group - the researchers made the healthy choice the one that rejects authority, supports defiance, supports the community, and rebels against the control of authoritative adult figures.

Suanne Kowal-Connelly, MD, FAAP is a practicing pediatrician with more than 30 years’ experience and now serves as the Director of Pediatric Clinical Quality for the Long Island Federally Qualified Health Centers (LIFQHC) in Nassau County. Additionally, she works as the district physician in many of her local school districts and performs as a New York Statetrainer for child abuse and neglect. Finally, she is a sports enthusiast and an avid triathlete. The many different aspects and interests in her life have been instrumental in shaping the way that she envisions and delivers healthcare to families. She is a contributor to HealthyChildren.org, the official AAP website for parents. And is the ultra-proud mother of three grown sons.