“I wish that they would eat more vegetables.”
“He won’t eat anything that’s not macaroni and cheese.”
“She has such a sweet-tooth – I think that she would eat candy forever if she could!”
“My child eats when bored or upset. How do I help them stop?”
“I want my child to have a healthy relationship with food, so I don’t want to make it a stressful topic. How do I do that and still help them make healthy choices?”
Healthy eating is obviously important to health and well-being, and it’s something that every family has to grapple with in one way or another. Our relationship with food is important, but it’s also complicated. Many parents feel pulled in multiple directions when trying to help their children develop healthy eating habits.
Transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming (TNG) youth are becoming more visible across the U.S. and the world, and you may have noticed more and more TNG youth, such as Gavin Grimm and Ashton Whitaker, speaking out about their experiences. As you read about these amazing young people, maybe you’ve wondered about the broader day-to-day experiences of TNG youth. Or maybe you’ve read about the higher risk of mental health concerns for TNG youth, but realized that there’s not always a lot of context and information about the other aspects of the lives of these young people.
Suffice it to say that bathrooms have recently leapt into the spotlight. The past several years have brought controversy to restrooms through a number of bills written to regulate who accesses bathrooms labeled for men or women. These bills have seemed to specifically target transgender people, often including legislation that requires that people use the bathroom that would align with the sex that they were assigned at birth. (If you’re not clear on terminology related to gender identity, like transgender or cisgender, check out our previous post with some introductory information.) It’s certainly not a new issue; as transwoman and transgender rights activist, Laverne Cox, stated, “Trans people have been going to the bathroom for a very long time.” To catch you up, we’ll start by going over a brief history of recent legislation and federal guidelines, then discuss some of the arguments raised in this debate.
I was going to write about a completely different topic for this week’s post, but I just saw an incredible presentation about sport specialization by UW’s own Alison Brooks, MD, MPH, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Dr. Brooks was presenting research about whether sport specialization – when an athlete focuses on one sport, usually throughout the year and at the exclusion of participation in other sports – is a healthy and effective way to help youth achieve their athletic goals. In other words, does someone who wants to play in the WNBA have to play in a year-round basketball league before high school (or even middle school)?
It’s that time again: back to school! As the school year starts rolling, many teens consider what may give them a leg up in school. A new study suggests that both video games and social media use might be connected to a student’s performance… and not just in the way that you might think.