A study came out recently that examined the relationship between vegetarians and eating disorders, and it's stirring up some serious controversy. It found that adolescent and young adult vegetarians, while more likely to be of a healthy weight and follow a healthier diet filled with fruits and vegetables, also "may be at increased risk for disordered eating behaviors, such as binge eating and unhealthful weight-control behaviors (such as forcing themselves to vomit, using diuretics and laxatives, and taking diet pills)." Yikes!

Of course, a conclusion like this has been picked up by plenty of outlets. Diet Blog has a particularly lively discussion going on in the comments, and an interesting point is broached. Is it really that vegetarians face an increased risk of developing an eating disorder? Or, is someone with an eating disorder just more likely to gravitate toward a restrictive diet, such as vegetarianism?

When you think about it that way, it makes a lot of sense. An anorexic teenager can use vegetarianism to more easily hide his or her unhealthy diet -- Mom and Dad will be far more likely to accept their child's refusal of a pork chop if it's because their child is a vegetarian, and might not notice that far fewer calories are being consumed.

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Lemondrop has a series of old advertisements for smoking. They're humorous in an I-can't-believe-they-said-that kind of way. A couple of the ads focus on how smoking can help keep you thin. Yeah, good idea. You'll have stinky breath, smelly clothes and hair, lung cancer, and emphysema ... but at least you'll be thin!

If you still believe the smoke-and-stay-thin myth, you'd better think again. Or somehow time travel back to the 1950s. A recent study suggests that teens who smoke are more likely to be overweight later in life. The researchers aren't suggesting that cigarettes themselves cause you to gain weight (though that might be a more effective deterrent than the Surgeon General's warning). Instead, it's thought that smoking in teenage years just becomes the first in a string of bad habits. Like burgers. And fries. And sugary soda. And chocolate. And, excuse me ... now I'm hungry.



Smoker or not, if you're looking to shed some extra pounds, check out America Takes It Off: Shrink a Size for great weight loss tips.

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Jess Weiner blogs about body image on Seventeen.com, and she does a great job of cutting right to heart of the self-esteem issues young girls face. Now, I'm a far cry from 17-years-old. Heck, I have sweatshirts that are older than that. But as I was watching Jess's videos, I realized that a lot of those teenage body image issues stick with us through our very non-teenager years.

I know that I engage in negative self talk sometimes. A while ago, I was shopping with my sister and I tried on a skirt that I knew was flattering. Instead of simply saying I liked it, I asked her if it made my butt look big. I don't really know why ... maybe I was fishing for a compliment or maybe saying things in the negative is just a bad habit. Jess has some tips for breaking the negative thinking:

• Stop making negative comments about yourself because you're seeking attention. Negative comments, even when we know they aren't true, usually come from a lack of self-esteem. Put negative thoughts of yourself out there and they'll come back to you.
  
• Don't define yourself by your size. Find better adjectives about your health, your talents, your intelligence and your positive qualities.
• Cut off negative comments. If you have people in your life who are critical about your appearance, directly tell them that their comments are hurtful and that you need them to stop.

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When it comes to the idea of gastric bypass surgery, I'm like a cork bobbing on water. I'd like to have a firm pro or con opinion, but there are so many things to consider. You just have to read through Karla's posts to hear a very realistic view on life after weight loss surgery. And Dr. Jonny has some serious points to consider as well. So, while a part of me would like to be anti-weight loss surgery, I know that for some people it is a very good choice. I am concerned, however, that the choice for surgery is made too rapidly.

A recent study shows that gastric bypass not only helps obese teens lose weight, it also can halt type 2 diabetes in its tracks. Those are certainly good results and have positive effects on the teens' health. But they're teenagers. And they're undergoing major, life-altering surgery.

I just hope that for everyone -- especially teens -- weight loss surgery is a last resort. All efforts to lose weight naturally should be tried first.

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Dakota Fanning has gone from a cutie-patutie little girl to a seemingly grounded young lady, with every stage being caught on camera, making it easy to forget that she's also just a 14-year-old girl. And, just like many 14-year-old girls, Dakota is taking advantage of the extracurricular sports at her high school in Studio City, California.

She's used to everyone cheering for her films, but now, she's cheering on her football team as a Vikings cheerleader. And while I have no idea whether Dakota's cheer squad is super athletic and competitive or more into hair and nails, it's still great to see a young star taking advantage of school sports.

Of course, maybe she's just getting experience -- aren't we about due for another installment of Bring It On?

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I remember back when I was in high school (what my son would call the "olden days"). When my friends and I finally scored drivers licenses and cheap used cars, we smelled freedom. Almost every day we'd escape the school's cafeteria and go out to lunch. We wouldn't go home or bring healthy, packed lunches to an off-campus spot to eat. Instead, we'd hit one of the fast-food joints downtown. It was a terrible habit to get into -- unhealthy and expensive.

Not too many years from now, my son will have the same freedom. We live practically next door to the local junior high and high school. I hope, when he has the freedom to leave school grounds at lunch, he opts to come home more often than not. I'd rather have him leave fast-food as an occasional treat, and choose healthful foods more regularly. (Though, if he brings home several teenage friends for lunch, my grocery bills will skyrocket!)

I just read an article which proves that students going out to lunch is a health decision parents and schools worry about around the globe. Short of preventing high school students from leaving the school campus, all we can do is teach our kids the importance of good nutrition from a young age. Then, hopefully, when they're old enough to do so, they make good choices.

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"Hi. My name is Maggie and I have insomnia." There's got to be a support group for insomniacs somewhere, right? My guess is they meet at 3 a.m.

I just recently had a bad bout of insomnia where I was only getting an hour or two of sleep a night. My sleep troubles tend to come in fits and starts, however, so the bad stretch has ended and I'm back to sleeping more normally. I do notice that when I'm sleep deprived, my son's behavior changes. I'm less energetic and perhaps a bit shorter-tempered and he starts to react to that. According to a recent study, adolescents can be greatly affected by a parent's insomnia. Not only are the adolescents more prone to insomnia themselves, they're more likely to feel depressed and suicidal.

In the study, nearly 800 adolescents completed a questionnaire. Some of the children had parents with insomnia, others did not. Those who had a parent with a sleep disorder were more than three times as likely to have a sleep disorder themselves. More alarmingly, 17% of children who had a parent with insomnia reported suicidal ideations -- 11.7% more than children who didn't have a parent with insomnia.

To learn more about insomnia, hop over to AOL Body.

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I am well past the age when I thought I'd have to worry about major breakouts. I rarely had pimples or zits when I was a teenager and now that I'm pushing 30, I thought I was safe. Not true. I don't know what it is but suddenly I've began to have super, massive under-the-skin, painful zits on a regular basis and am getting other minor breakouts on occasion as well.

In the last week in particular my skin has been revolting -- and I use the word 'revolting' as both a verb and an adjective in this instance. I was afraid that I was alone until I got a text message from a very good friend giving me a quick update on her life. "Things are good but nearly 30 and suddenly breaking out all over".

Laurence Steinberg from Temple University said this past week that the standard teenage brain lacks good impulse control that can lead to actions akin to a fast car with a good accelerator, but a weak brake.

With the human brain maturing even up to the age of 25, Steinberg says that crime can often be a result of this lack of impulse control. He helped prove the case to the U.S. Supreme Court a few years ago when the court ruled that the death penalty could be used on criminals who committed dastardly crimes before the age of 18.

Steinberg concluded his most recent adolescent research by saying "As any parent knows (youths are more likely to show) a lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility (in reference to adults). "These qualities often result in impetuous and ill-considered actions and decisions."

Steinberg also referenced that "juveniles are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure."

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Teenagers are notorious for their sleep habits -- they stay up too late when they have to get up early, and when they have nothing to get up for, they might sleep the whole day away. Is this natural? eDiets recently did an article on this subject and their verdict is that yes, it is normal, but it's not necessarily healthy.

Because of the influence of the infamous teenage hormones, teenagers are programmed to go to bed later -- that much is natural. But they're still required to get up early for classes, which means they're not getting enough sleep usually--which is why they catch up on weekends. And since it's unlikely that schools are going to change their start times, it's important that teenagers have a specific bedtime that allows them the adequate amount of sleep. It's also important that they're not surrounded by electronic equipment that hinders their sleep.

Want tips on how to get your teenager to get enough sleep? Click here.

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A new and potential frightening U.S. study just released this week concluded that purging and exercising to stay slim are still all the rage of teenage girls in America. But, increasingly, teenage boys are increasingly joining the club as well.

The preoccupation of staying abnormally thin is just as odd as those teenagers who eat everything in sight and wonder why they're overweight, but in many cases, its the females who follow the slimming down strategy -- not the boys.

In the study, researchers found that between 1995 and 2005, 54 percent of girls dieted, 10 percent used diet products, and eight percent admitted to purging. In addition, 24 percent of boys observed in the study said they dieted. The surprise: that percentage rose every year within the 10-year study period.

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If you have a 10 year-old that is about to start maturing physically, you may notice that along with that comes...body odor. Kids that aren't even teenagers (by description) yet may start seeking out colognes and perfumes to mask that bodacious smell. Sorry if that word dates my thinking, but you have to start somewhere.

What can your budding teen do to keep that odor under control and out of the noses of others?. Try these tips:

• Always, always shower daily with soap and water.
• Don't forget to wear clean clothes and underwear every day, and change socks frequently. If you've been sweating, change into clean, dry clothes. For those of you playing sports, this is a MUST
• Wear all-cotton t-shirts, underwear and socks, which absorb sweat better. Ditch silk and polyester if possible (for now)
• Use deodorant, but unless you have to, I'd advise against anti-perspirant. Sweat was meant to leave the body, not stay in!

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A boot camp for troubled teens is being investigated by the FBI after the death of a student happened this past week.

The boot camp for teens in Missouri comes under scrutiny as thousands of allegations of abuse and neglect continue to crop up around the country in relation to designations for troubled teenagers.

In this case, a fifteen year-old diet in 2004 after two weeks at the Missouri camp, but investigators determined that he had been ill for some time -- in addition to being punished for being too weak to exercise -- although a spider bit was give as the official cause of death.

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When I was a teenager, you could not have paid me to go for a run. My hobbies were surfing the Internet, watching TV, raiding the fridge and napping, and while I was lucky to be slim despite all that, many are not and are in need of some healthy habits, pronto! But getting teenagers active isn't easy. What's the answer?

Apparently, a multifaceted approach is key -- adolescents do best when activity is integrated into their school, their family and their community, a study shows. And I agree -- when you're surrounded by healthy habits, it's hard not to adopts them yourself.

How do you get your teenager moving?

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There are more instances of bipolar disorder in America's youth, according to a new study. Like all new pieces of information like this, is there really an increase in volume, or are measurement systems and more stringent diagnoses helping the numbers go up?

Hard to say. The number of child and adolescent bipolar disorders are increasing, although the reliability of how those cases are determined probably needs to be under tighter scrutiny.

To me, this is similar to the recent media attention on autism in American children. Was the evolution of diagnostic methods the reason for such a strong increase in the last decade in autism cases, or were the increases genuine? Without accounting for all the interplay of several variables, we'll never know.

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