At PAMF, we know that parents want to stay up-to-date on the latest studies and discoveries in adolescent health research. However, we also know that there is a lot of information out there and you don’t always have time to sort through it all. We have created this page to condense new and important information on a range of adolescent health subjects for easy use.

Outside Resources

• About Vaccine Safety: This U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site about immunization monitoring and policies includes recent studies on vaccine safety.


• ACOG Adolescent Health Care: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Web site for parents includes articles on policies, guides, position papers, fact sheets and other resources on adolescent sexuality.


• Adolescent Friendly Health Services: An Agenda for Change: This is a World Health Organization publication promoting the improvement of adolescent health services across the globe. It includes country experiences and human stories.


• America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007: This is a link to the U.S. government's annual report that monitors the well-being of the Nation's children and youth. The report presents 38 key indicators on important aspects of children’s lives. For quick summary, see the “Highlights” section.


• Bright Futures: Bright Futures is a national health promotion initiative dedicated to promoting and improving the health and well-being of infants, children and adolescents. The Web site includes publications, distance education, training tools, resources and initiatives.


• Data Resources Center for Child and Adolescent Health: This site allows users to search and display charts and tabular findings from individual survey items, as well as child health measures derived from these data sources. The site displays state profiles, rankings and information for key demographic groups.


• Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health: This Web site is a great source for information about children’s health and well being in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in California. The Web site allows you to search for data by different filters, including region, topic and demographics. The site also includes community resources, a reading room and local study results.


• National Adolescent Health Information Center: This Web site provides information on current adolescent health programs and initiatives. The site includes resources such as adolescent health data, state and local programs information and articles on adolescent health issues.


• National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health: This is a link to a school-based study of the health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7 to 12. It includes surveys of students, parents and school administrators as well as a link to a public-use dataset.


• The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living: This is an interesting study done with girls about what they perceive as “normal” in relation to the increasing rates of obesity in America. It covers topics including from girls’ ideas of what healthy living is, the influence that parents have on their daughter’s lifestyle, the way in which income levels and economic status determine lifestyle and health statistics and how aware girls are of the importance of living healthily. The study emphasizes the impact that parents have on their daughters’ diets and their level of physical activity, among other habits related to healthy living. Girl Scout key facts.


• Overweight and Obesity State-Based Programs: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site is devoted to its state-based nutrition and physical activity program to prevent obesity and other chronic diseases. The site includes models and state stories.


• A Portrait of Preteens in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties: What We Know About 9- to 13-Year-Olds: [link embedded] This report, done by the Preteen Alliance, focuses on the physical and emotional health of preteens, specifically those living in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The statistics are based on demographics, ethnicity and income, among other criteria. The data shows that preteens in these two counties score higher on standardized tests than preteens in the rest of California. They also are more likely to pass the California fitness standards. In addition, the data shows higher rates of sadness and feelings of hopelessness amongst seventh graders in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Preteens who are from underprivileged families show negative results in many categories tested for these statistics.


• The Preteen Alliance: The Preteen Alliance is a collaborative that promotes the positive emotional and behavioral health of preteens. Based in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the Alliance offers an opportunity for a regional, coordinated focus on the important -- but too often neglected -- age group of children ages 9-13.


• Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls: This Web site provides a report by the American Psychological Association (APA) about how the proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising and media is harming girls’ self-image and healthy development.


• Research: This Web page, created by The Shyness Institute, compiles all of the organization’s information and research on shyness. The site includes research regarding shyness, social anxiety and related anxiety disorders, as well as links to many different papers. It also focuses on the development of The Social Fitness Model.


• Teen Health Data: The Lucille Packard Foundation for Children’s Health provides information about children’s health and well being in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in California. This Web site allows you to search for data by different filters, including region, topic and demographics. The site also includes community resources, a reading room and local study results.


• Teen Health Rights: A Web site from the National Center for Youth Law that was created to help health care providers in California understand the many laws that impact their work with teens around reproductive health.


• THRIVE: Community Tool for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments: [link embedded] This toolkit helps communities identify and foster factors in the community environment that will improve health outcomes and reduce disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minorities. It includes instructions and collaboration.


• What States Are Doing: The Education Commission of the States compiles information on how states address the issue of parent involvement in education through state legislation and other initiatives.


• YRBSS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System: This Web site provides comprehensive results of the 2005 U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study of health topics and behaviors. It also provides results in PowerPoint form, .pdf form, and online version and/or comparison, as well as fact sheets and links to publication and 2007 questionnaires.

Recommended Books

• I Want It Now: Navigating Childhood in a Materialistic World by Donna Bee-Gates


• Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation by Neil Howe and William Strauss


• The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids by Madeline Levine


• Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher


• Surviving Ophelia: Mothers Share Their Wisdom in Navigating the Tumultuous Teenage Years by Cheryl Dellasega


• Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose Both by Laura Sessions Stepp

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