Ann L. Engelland, MD Adolescent Primary Care

Thoughts on Alcohol - Alcohol on Our Minds - Some college kids are off on Spring Break now, and high school seniors are starting to get itchy about their own up-coming college experience. Some are even off on the high school equivalent of the spring break trip. Bacchanalian partying seems to go hand in hand with many of these spring rituals. Most of us know that binge drinking is rampant on college campuses. We also know it happens on some local golf courses, in backyards and Westchester basements - Spring Break or not. Parents continue to wonder what they should be saying or doing to fulfill their parental duties in these situations.
[ Read complete article ]

How can I avoid gaining weight in college? - Avoiding the Freshman Fifteen - Sara H is home for the summer, having gained twelve pounds at Connecticut College. She is determined to use the gym and lose the weight before September. John P. shows his friends the beginning of a "beer belly" that he grew while at the University of Miami. Really not proud of it, he's determined to work it off over the summer and get his six pack back.
[ Read complete article ]

How do I know which shots I need to travel? - International Travel and Teens: Know Before you Go - Why scoop ice cream if you can throw snowballs in the Yukon? Each year there are more and more teen adventure travel options available. While envious parents juggle the myriad forms, bills and plane reservations required to ship their kids out for the summer, they are surely feeling a certain amount of unease and uncertainty about sending kids off to foreign and remote lands.
[ Read complete article ]

How can we manage stress better? - Mind/Body Medicine: an idea whose time is now--even for teens! - Susan, a sixteen year old at the High School recently came to me because of fatigue. She had only been sleeping about six hours each night. Although she usually finished her homework by 10pm, she was unable to fall asleep for over two hours. She described tossing and turning, worrying about the day gone by and the day ahead. Her appetite had been affected and she was finding it hard to concentrate at school in the morning.
[ Read complete article ]

Tattooing and Piercing: Is Body Art Risky? - "Oh, I know, Mom, you just think that because I want a tattoo I'm going to Hell along with the Hell's Angels or that I joined some other gang."
"You've got this all wrong, Mom. Did you know that Winston Churchill's mother had a snake tattooed around her wrist?"
"Did you know that piercing navels has been around since 4000BC in Egypt? This is nothing new. It's perfectly safe!"
Your answer: "Is it?"
[ Read complete article ]

What do you think about vaccines, doctor? - An Update on Immunizations for Teenagers - When it comes to "shots", the past six months have been a dizzy time, even for professionals. Not only have new vaccines been approved and released into the market, but there are complicated new recommendations for old vaccines.
[ Read complete article ]

Minding the Gender Gap: What about our Boys? - The recent series of articles in the New York Times and elsewhere has highlighted some of the emerging data about social indicators of success for American teenage boys. The gender gap is also apparent in medicine and contributes to health problems for our sons. Boys have higher mortality rates than girls and they engage in significantly more dangerous risk-taking behaviors. In spite of this, adolescent males are seen far less by doctors and health professionals than girls. When they are seen, the visit is often a perfunctory sports physical in a school gym, affording little privacy and no legitimate health assessment.
[ Read complete article ]

Your Teen Gone Veggie? - Has your pre-teen or teenager decided to become vegetarian? Are you alarmed? Worried? Informed? First of all, RELAX. Take the time to understand what your child has in fact decided to do. Often the decision to become a vegetarian is motivated by very positive issues-sensitivity toward animals, interest in better health, spiritual experimentation, or concern for the environment - all good things for teens to think about and explore.
[ Read complete article ]

What about Teenage Gynecology? That's Pap not Gap! -
Rachel, 14, has been having periods for a year and a half, but they have become increasingly irregular. It's wreaking havoc with her travel soccer schedule.
Susan, 17, has a serious boyfriend away at college and would like to discuss birth control pills before he comes back to Mamaroneck for Spring break.
Paulina, 15, has had unprotected sex and read something in Teen Vogue magazine at the orthodontist's office that scared her. She wants to be tested for sexually transmitted illnesses.
Annie, 15, has had severe menstrual cramps for the past year. She is now missing school 2 or 3 days out of a month. She is afraid something is wrong.
All of these teens need help. Where to turn? Whom to ask?
[ Read complete article ]