If we want to build a stronger foundation of health for tomorrow, we need to start with our children today. This year at TEDMED, the program will showcase Speakers who are are dedicated to supporting young people in shaping positive, healthy lifestyles. From helping children living in challenging environments to make healthier choices, to supporting transgender teens and their families with mental and physical health services, to providing young people with new tools to deal with the effects of race issues, these three TEDMED 2017 Speakers are empowering the next generation to navigate today’s complex health challenges and to take charge of their own health.
Physician Sandy Hassink has dedicated her career to helping children achieve a healthy weight. As President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Chair of the AAP Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight Advisory Board and Steering Committee, Sandy aims to ensure every child has access to a healthy and supportive environment, where nourishing food and opportunities for physical activity are readily available. Unfortunately, many Americans don’t live in communities that enable healthy behaviors. For instance, over 23 million Americans (including 6.5 million children) live more than one mile from a supermarket. With this type of statistic in mind, Sandy stresses the importance of understanding that the health decisions people make go beyond willpower or lack of knowledge, and she focuses instead on the ways a person’s neighborhood and physical surroundings ultimately affect their diet and activity choices. Furthermore, Sandy believes influencing healthy behavior is less about telling people what to eat or how to move and more about getting families and children involved in shaping their own healthy lifestyles. Bringing health closer to home has the potential to make long lasting positive impacts—as Sandy puts it, “good nutrition in childhood sets the stage for lifelong healthy eating.”
While childhood obesity is considered one of the nation’s largest health concerns, other important issues related to the health of young people have started receiving more attention in recent years. Gender dysphoria, or the distress that occurs when an individual does not identify with the sex and gender they were assigned at birth, affects an estimated one in 30,000 males and one in 100,000 females in the United States (though data is limited, and studies from other countries suggest this number may be higher). Yet when pediatric endocrinologist Ximena Lopez was first approached by parents looking for medical advice for their child, who was struggling with gender dysphoria, Ximena learned that the only experience her hospital had with transgender youth was in the psychiatric ward. Due to reasons such as discrimination, bullying, isolation, and lack of support, the prevalence of suicide attempts among transgender individuals is 41%—compared to 4.6% of the overall U.S. population. Ximena knew she had to do something to help. In 2014, Ximena founded the Children’s Gender Education and Care Interdisciplinary Support Program, or the GENECIS Program, at Children’s Health in Dallas, Texas, which has grown from five patients to 60. The multidisciplinary team at GENECIS works with patients on everything from medical interventions to mental health support. Ximena stresses that early intervention, treatment, and parental support are key ingredients to a successful outcome. “The parents feel like you’re saving their children,” she says, “and these patients feel like you’re saving them.”
Children and young people confront different types of health stressors every day. Race issues, often a taboo topic and not openly discussed, can be at the root of emotional stress for many young people. Howard C. Stevenson believes it is essential that everyone is given the tools and skills to openly talk about race and to express ourselves in a healthy way when faced with racially stressful situations. To foster these types of important conversations, Howard promotes racial literacy—“the ability to read, recast, and resolve racially stressful encounters”—in schools, families, and communities. At the Racial Empowerment Collaborative, where Howard is Executive Director, programs like EMBRace (Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race) are designed to help children and parents reduce and manage racial stress and trauma. Instead of internalizing the emotions connected with racially charged encounters, these programs empower young participants with the tools to successfully navigate difficult conflicts. Through the Collaborative, Howard is helping youth to reduce stress, build confidence, and to stand up for themselves in a productive and healthy way.
Kids are the future. Yes, it’s a cliche, but it’s also the truth. These three thought leaders recognize the importance of equipping the next generation with the tools they’ll need to navigate important health decisions and empowering them with the knowledge to live healthy lives now and into adulthood.