MINNESOTA
DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH
DID YOU KNOW?
New Recommendations on Scoliosis
Screening
Remember being
screened for scoliosis
when you were in
school? Do you work in
school health? The
MDH, with the aid of
the Scoliosis School
Screening Workgroup,
has revised its recommendations on screening for scoliosis in
schools.
MDH now recommends
screening girls with a
scoliometer in the fall of
5th grade and spring of
6th grade. Those with
an angle of trunk rotation 6 degrees or
greater are to be referred to a primary care
provider with no watch
lists or rescreening in
schools. MDH no longer
recommends screening
boys for scoliosis.
Check out information
on scoliosis screening,
recommendations, training, education and resources at
www.health.state.mn.us/
divs/fh/mch/scoliosis/
index.html.
Adolescent Heath E News
A P R I L
2 0 0 9
Record Number of STDs are Reported
During the observance of
National STD Awareness
Month, April 2009, the Minnesota Department of Health
(MDH) encourages all grantees, local public health departments and clinics to help
spread the word about the
record numbers of sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs)
that continue to be reported
throughout the state. In 2008,
a record high 17,650 of bacterial STDs were reported
(14,350 chlamydia, 3,036 gonorrhea, 263 syphilis – all
stages, 1 chancroid):
http://
www.health.state.mn.us/divs/
idepc/dtopics/stds/stats/
stdsurvrpts.html.
The full news release can be
seen at:
free downloaded posters, fact
sheets and materials are available online at:
http://
www.health.state.mn.us/
news/index.html.
http://
www.health.state.mn.us/divs/
idepc/dtopics/stds/stdmonth/
stdmonth.html
What does the data say about
Minnesota youth? Adolescents and young adults (15-24
years) have the highest rates
of chlamydia and gonorrhea,
making up 67% of new infections in 2008.
http://
www.WrapTestTreat.com
To help spread the word,
http://www.NoMasSTDs.com
http://
www.health.state.mn.us/sep
http://www.cdcnpin.com/
stdawareness/
http://www.cdc.gov/std
http://www.ashastd.org
Teens Not Getting the Preventive Care They Need
Even though professional organizations recommend yearly preventive visits for adolescents,
including both screening and
anticipatory guidance, few adolescents are receiving them, according to research published in this
month’s Pediatrics (Irwin CE,
Adams SH, Park MJ, Newacheck
PW. Preventive Care for Adolescents: Few Get Visits and Fewer
get Services. Pediatircs 2009;
123:e565-e572). An analysis of
the 2001-2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey showed that
only thirty-eight percent of teens
received a preventive care visit,
and that poor and uninsured
teens were less likely to have a
preventive care visit. While most
adolescents did have their height,
weight, and blood pressure assessed during their well child
exam, these rates were lower
among the low-income and uninsured adolescents who received
preventive care. Rates of anticipatory guidance were disappointingly low regardless of insurance
status or income. Anticipatory
guidance was defined as having
received information on “dental
care, seat belts, bicycle helmets,
exercise, healthy eating, and secondhand smoke exposure.” Only
ten percent of the respondents
received anticipatory guidance on
all six areas.
For more information on preventive care for adolescents, please
check out the following sites:
Implementing the Guidelines for
Adolescent Preventive Services
by Norman J. Montalto:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/980501ap/
montalto.html
GAPS Recommendations Monograph:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/upload/
mm/39/gapsmono.pdf
Anticipatory Guidance:
http://www.brightfutures.org/
wellchildcare/education/resources/
adolescence.lasso
Periodicity Schedule, C& TC:
http://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/
Legacy/DHS-3379-ENG
PAGE
2
New Research: Adolescent Sleep
Article Analyzes Factors Associated with
Adolescent Bedtime
and Wake Time
From MCH Alert, http://
www.mchlibrary.info/alert/
archives.html
"‘Our findings confirm that on
school days, adolescents are
obtaining less sleep then they are
considered to need, and school
start time is the factor with the
greatest impact,’ write the authors of an article published in
the March 2009 issue of the
Journal of Pediatrics. A national
survey of adolescents conducted
“Adolescents need
to be surrounded
by safe places,
challenging
experiences and
caring people to
develop in healthy
ways.”
-Minnesota’s
Adolescent Health
Action Plan
by the National Sleep Foundation
found that adolescents in high
school reported spending an average of 7.5 hours in bed and getting
an average of 7.2 hours of sleep
per night. However, a 6-year longitudinal study among adolescents
given a 10-hour sleep opportunity
suggested that adolescents need 9
hours of sleep on average. Studies
have found deleterious health and
behavioral consequences of
shorter sleep duration in adolescents and young adults. In the
study described in this article, the
authors used 24-hour time diaries
to answer key questions about
adolescent sleep, based on time in
bed. Time diaries allow researchers to examine times spent in
different daily activities.
The authors conclude that ‘if
sleep loss is associated with impaired learning and health, then
these data point to computer
use, social activities, and especially school start time as the
most obvious intervention
points.’"
Knutson KL, Lauderdale DS.
2009. Sociodemographic and
behavioral patterns of bed time
and wake time among US adolescents aged 15 to 17 years. Journal
of Pediatrics 154(3):426-430.
Abstract available at http://
www.jpeds.com/article/S00223476(08)00720-8/abstract.
Resources
New Publication on
School Connectedness from CDC’s Division of Adolescent
and School Health
(DASH)
School connectedness is the
belief by students that the adults
and peers at their school care
about their learning and about
them as individuals. Research
indicates that students who feel
connected to their school are
more likely to engage in healthy
behaviors and succeed academically. In particular, connected
students are less likely to use
alcohol and other drugs, miss
school, have sex at an
early age, or be involved in violence or
behaviors that increase
their risk for injury
(such as drinking and
driving). They are also
more likely to attend
school regularly, stay in
school longer, and have
higher grades and classroom
test scores.
ADOLESCENT
HEATH
E
NEWS
To help schools enhance this
important protective factor,
CDC scientists have created a
guide that synthesizes available
research on school connectedness and outlines strategies for
fostering it. School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing
Protective Factors Among
Youth identifies six evidencebased strategies that teachers,
administrators, school staff, and
parents can implement to increase the extent to which
students feel connected to
school.
This strategies document is
available for free download at
http://www.cdc.gov/
healthyyouth/AdolescentHealth/
connectedness.htm.
Brief Summarizes
Social Marketing
Strategies to Promote Adolescents’
Health Care Use
From MCH Alerts, http://
www.mchlibrary.info/alert/
archives.html
“Recommended Adolescent
Health Care Utilization: How
Social Marketing Can Help examines the use of commercial
marketing strategies to promote
adolescents' use of health care
services. The issue brief, produced by the National Institute
for Health Care Management,
summarizes the basic elements
or stages of social marketing
and discusses the application of
social marketing theory and
techniques to health care. Topics include audience segmentation, messages tailored to individuals, branding and social
modeling, and evidence about
the efficacy of social marketing
to change health behaviors.
Examples of successful social
marketing campaigns targeted to
adolescents, including those that
used Web sites, social networking, and other new media, are
provided. Challenges and opportunities to promote adolescent heath care use are also
presented.” The brief is available
at http://www.nihcm.org/pdf/
NIHCM-SocialMarketingFINAL.pdf.
PAGE
3
“As young
people
navigate the
changes of
adolescence, it
is critical that
they receive
the guidance,
support and
encouragement
that fosters
healthy
development.”
-Minnesota’s
Adolescent Health
Action Plan
Opportunities to Learn...
April 21, 2009
From Dr. Seuss to
Porn: Countering
Normalization of
Sexual Harm
tion of sexual harm and its
relevance to prevention
12:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m.
Schwan's Center at National
Sports Center
1700 NE 105th Avenue, Blaine
Cost is $25. Certificates of
attendance are available. For
more information contact,
Donna McDonald, Violence
Prevention Coordinator,
Anoka County Community
Health Department 763-4227047,
[email protected]
.us. Workshop sponsored by
the Anoka County Child
Abuse Prevention Council and
Connexus Energy
Living in a sexually toxic society means we're all affected
and desensitized, to varying
degrees, in both our personal
and professional lives. To be
effective, prevention requires
recognition of these problems,
as both a public health and
public safety concern, as well
as engaging others who care
about children’s and society's
health. This session presented
by Cordelia Anderson, includes activities for discussion
and action planning. Attend
this workshop and learn:
To understand the normaliza-
To identify four factors that
normalize sexual harm
To identify three actions for
prevention
April 20 & 21,
2009
2009 Girls Coalition
of Minnesota 19th
Annual Conference:
Celebrating Change!
GCM Conference Vision Statement:
The Girls Coalition of Minnesota,
through the annual conference,
seeks to build the leadership capacity of professionals, create opportunities for increased collaboration
among organizations and individuals
across Minnesota, and to highlight
emerging issues and research of
importance to young women across
Minnesota.
For 19 years the GCM annual conference has celebrated the uniqueness of young women and inspired
attendees to continue their efforts
in creating a just and equitable future for girls.
Target Audience:
Adults who work with, or care
about girls.
For More info on speakers & registration, go to:
http://www.mngirls.org/conference/
Trainings/ Workshops
The Power of Youth
Voice
Tuesday, April 28
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $25.00
Why engage young people?
How can giving young people a
voice in the issues that affect
them benefit an organization?
How can organizations implement this strategy with young
people in their organizations?
What do organizations need to
consider before engaging
young people? If you or anyone
in your organization is interested in learning more about
Youth Leadership and Youth
Voice, this workshop is for
ADOLESCENT
HEATH
E
NEWS
you! Service learning is gaining
recognition as a powerful approach to adolescent pregnancy prevention. Come learn
from the National Youth Leadership Council about the principles of Youth Leadership and
Youth Voice and how to implement them with excellence.
For more information, see
event registration form. Questions? Contact Jocelyn Broyles
at 651-644-1447 x19 or
[email protected].
May 7—8
Scholarships are available.
Earle Brown Heritage Center,
Brooklyn Park, MN
Please forward this message to
other staff and colleagues who
you think may be interested.
The 18th Annual
MOAPPP Conference
The 18th annual conference
brings together educators,
service providers, youth workers, religious and civic leaders,
medical and public health professionals, and others committed to adolescent pregnancy
prevention and support for
young families, to build our
understanding and strengthen
our capacity to impact youth.
The aim of the conference is to
challenge, inspire and better
prepare all of us to do so.
Go to the following website
for more information and to
register online:
http://www.moappp.org/
training/conference.html
For copies of any of the articles featured in this newsletter, please contact MDH’s Barr Library. The Barr
A Vision
forcollection
Healthy
Library
has a quality
of Adolescence:
public health books,
Minnesota Department of Health
Minnesota Department of Health
Jennifer O’Brien
Jennifer O’Brien
Adolescent Health Coordinator
Adolescent Health Coordinator
Minnesota Department of Health
Minnesota Department of Health
P.O. Box 64882
P.O. Box 64882
St Paul, MN 55164-0882
St Paul, MN 55164-0882
Phone: 651-201-3627
Phone:
651-201-3627
Fax:
651-201-3590
journals, and videos. The library provides lending, refOur responsibility as the community of Minnesota
erence, interlibrary loan, and other services to Minneis to support and guide Minnesota youth in the
sota Department of Health staff, local tribal, county,
healthy development of being, belonging and beor city public health professionals, school health praccoming. This requires a focus on wholeness and
titioners, and employees of both the Minnesota Board
wellness, and seeing Minnesota youth as “at
of Nursing and the Minnesota Department of Human
promise” rather than “at risk”.
Services. The Barr Library also provides interlibrary
loan services to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture:
For more information on Minnesota’s Adoles-
Fax: 651-201-3590
E-mail:
[email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
or 651-201-5090
cent Health Action Plan, contact
Jennifer
O’Brien or go to the Adolescent Health Gate-
http://www.health.state.mn.us/youth/
http://www.health.state.mn.us/youth/
way page.
Coming up this Summer...
Summer Institute in
Adolescent Health—
Social and Emotional
Health for all Young
People: Expanding Approaches
July 27th-July 29th
July 30th (graduate students only)
Social and emotional health for all
young people. Connections to supportive environments – in families, in
schools, and in communities – promote the building of healthy pathways
into adulthood. And, we are beginning
to understand more about other vital
requirements for mental well-being –
safety, sleep, sunlight, and sustenance,
intertwined with exercise and ample
opportunities for self-expression.
Unfortunately, we have neglected to
assure these fundamentals for all
young people. Many youth have been
invisible, overlooked, and left on their
own to wade through tough times –
when stresses overwhelm, change
comes at inopportune moments, and
supportive environments are
stretched thin. At these times, reclaiming health requires approaches
extending beyond conventional services that, we know, aren’t fully meeting young people’s needs.
At the 2009 Summer Institute in Adolescent Health, learn strategies for
enhancing supportive environments
and fostering skills for social and
emotional health.
Gather ideas for adding to what’s
already working, whether in a com-
munity clinic or youth program, at
school or after-school, within a residential center or a juvenile justice
setting. Practice skills for selecting
optimal approaches for reaching
young people, all of whom we hope
are on healthy social and emotional
pathways to adulthood.
Who should attend?
All who work with young people —–
teachers, coaches, and administrators;
nurses, physicians, nutritionists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, and youth workers; religious
leaders and policy makers.
See attachment for more details!