Assignment 4.

1 Designing a Health Education Class Brian Mann

Healthy Eating
o Nutritional needs (Berk p.371)
Common deficiency in iron,

magnesium
Deficiencies associated with fast food and poor food choices
Family meals greatly improve teenagers diets
o Preoccupation with food and a distortion of body image is common
(Facts for Families #2)
o Anorexia Nervosa (Facts for Families #2)
Symptoms/warning signs
Perfectionist with low self esteem
Believing she is fat regardless of how thin she becomes
Needing a feeling of mastery over her life
In pursuit to be thin, girl starves herself
Damage to the body, may lead to death
o Bulimia Nervosa (Facts for Families #2)
Symptoms/warning signs
Patient binges on large quantities of food
Purges calories by self-induced vomiting or laxatives
Dramatic weight fluctuations
Damage to physical health
Dehydration
Hormonal imbalance
Depletion of important minerals
Damage to vital organs
Treatments involve team approach
Individual therapy
Family therapy
Primary care physician
Nutritionist
Medication
Obesity (Facts For Families #79)
o 10% higher weight than recommended weight for height and body type
o 16% - 33% of adolescents in the U.S. are obese
o Causes of Obesity
Genetic
Family history of obesity
Biological
Medical illness
Medications
Behavioral
Overeating
Lack of exercise
Emotional
Stressful life events or change
Family and peer problems
Low self esteem

calcium, riboflavin and

Depression or other emotional problem

Cultural factors
Poor eating habits
o Physical risks associated with obesity
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Breathing problems
o Emotional risks associated with obesity
Lower self-esteem
Depression
Anxiety
Obsessive compulsive disorder
o Treatment for obesity
Comprehensive plan
Reasonable weight loss goals
Dietary and physical activity management
Behaviour modification
Family involvement
Preventing STDs
o Sexual activity statistics (Guttmacher)
o STI statistics (Guttmacher)
o Contraceptives and their use as prevention of STD (Guttmacher)
o STDs in high risk groups (Guttmacher)
o Myths associated with STD (sexetc.org)
o Symptoms of Common STDs (sexetc.org)
Pregnancy
o Sexual attitudes and behavior
Contraceptive use statistics (Guttmacher)
Pregnancy statistics (Guttmacher)
Pregnancy outcomes statistics (Guttmacher)
o Teen pregnancy overview: When children have children (Facts for
families # 31)
o Correlates and Consequences of Adolescent Parenthood (Berk p.378)
Educational attainment
Marital patterns
Economic circumstances
o Prevention Strategies (Berk p.379)
Effective Sex education programs combine several elements:
(Berk p.379)
Teach techniques for handling sexual situations
Deliver messages appropriate to culture and sexual
experience
Last long enough to have impact
Provide specific information about contraceptives
Provide ready access to contraceptives
o Talking to your kids about sex (Facts for Families #62)
Sexual Orientation
o 2% to 3% identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual (Berk p.376)

Genetic and prenatal biological influences are thought to be largely

responsible for homosexuality (Berk p.376)
Sex hormones modify brain structures in ways that induce
homosexual feelings and behaviour (Berk p.376)
o 50% to 60% of adolescents who report having engaged in homosexual
acts identify as heterosexual (Berk p.376)
o Three phase sequence in coming out
Feeling different (Berk p.377)
Confusion (Berk p.377)
Self-acceptance (Berk p.377)
o Special problems associated with homosexuality
Stigma, societal prejudice (Berk p.377)
Suicide rate extremely high for adolescent homosexuals (Berk
p. 377)
Cognitive Development
o Changing states of arousal (Berk p.368)
o Information-processing view of adolescent cognitive development
(Berk p. 385)
Attention becomes more selective
Inhibition improves, supporting gains in attention and
reasoning
Strategies become more effective, improved memory storage
and retrieval
Knowledge increases
Metacognition expands
Cognitive self-regulation improves
Speed of thinking and processing capacity increase
o Consequences of Adolescent cognitive changes
Self-consciousness (Berk p.386)
Imaginary audience (Berk p.387)
Self-focusing (Berk p.386)
Personal fable (Berk p.387)
o Idealism and Criticism (Berk p.388)
Grand vision of the world
Disparity between teenagers idealism and adults realism
creates conflict
o Decision Making (Berk p.388)
Often do not think rationally (Berk p.388)
Emphasis of short term over long term goals (Berk p.388)
Learn from successes and failures over time (Berk p.388)
o Adolescent brain development (adolescent brain)
o Drug abuse vulnerability in teens (adolescent brain)
o Teenage brain (PBS)
History of the brain
3-D Brain anatomy
o

Each of these topics can be sensitive issues that often stir feelings of judgement. I
attempted to keep to the facts of what people need to know about the teaching these
topics, how these topics impact people and what course of prevention or treatment

may apply. I intentionally omitted abstinence, discussion of abortion ethics,

promiscuity and other emotionally charged topics.
Sources Cited:
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Facts for Families,
Number 2. Teenagers with Eating Disorders. May 2008.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Facts for Families
Number 31. When Children Have Children. May 2012.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Facts For Families
Number 79. Obesity in Children and Teens. March 2011
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Facts for Families,
Number 62. Talking to your kids about sex. May 2008.
Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health, June 2013, Guttmacher
Institute. http://www.guttmacher.org
Berk, Laura. Development through the LifeSpan. Allyn&Bacon, 5th edition, 2010
The Teenage Brain. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/episode3/index.html
Adolescent Brain Development and Vulnerability to Drug Use. Mentor International.
http://preventionhub.org/training/adolescent-brain