Thanks to the popularity of things like Facebook, Playstation and TiVo, it's pretty obvious that teenagers today are getting less physical activity than they were a few decades ago. Or is it? Recent findings from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found that teenagers today are definitely heavier than they were 20 years ago, but they're still getting about the same amount of physical activity. Which means, then, that a lack of exercise isn't to blame for the staggering levels of obesity in young adults today.

Of course, if obesity isn't caused by a reduction of calories being burned off, the only other logical explanation is that it's caused by an increase in the calories being consumed -- we're getting just as much activity as we did before, but it's simply not enough to make up for all the extra food we're consuming. In fact, other experts argue that the surge in obesity levels in youngsters is caused by food alone -- exercise habits don't even factor into the equation.

Hey, nobody's saying that exercise isn't important -- it's definitely an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. But when it comes to obesity levels in teenagers, it seems the problem starts at the dinner table, not the couch.

Many people are also pointing fingers at school lunches -- students in Chicago can fill up on nachos five days a week.

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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Enrolling your kids in sports can improve their self esteem, get them in shape and help them develop a life-long habit of being active. These are some very good reasons to get them on some sort of team, yes? But there's another good reason they should get on the playing field -- playing ball as a teen can help keep their bones healthy for up to 40 years.

According to recent studies, sports like basketball, baseball, volleyball and soccer can help keep kids' bones strong well into old age, even if they don't keep the activity up. That's not to say they should give activity up as they age, but it goes to show that what you do in your teenage years can have lasting effects on your health.

So come spring, get your teenager active -- if you can, that is.

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Tweens and teens may seem to be constantly on the go. But while they're go, go, going ... are they really being physically active? Encourage them to be more active this holiday season with gifts that either inspire physical activity or generate it.

When choosing active gifts for the younger set, keep fun in mind. While a pedometer might be a great tool for kids of any age, it's not exactly thrilling for a teenager to open a handsomely wrapped gift and find a pedometer inside. So look for items that not only promote physical fitness, but also generate some excitement. Check out the gallery for some activity-inspiring gifts for the tweens and teens in your life.

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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Talking with kids about the hard topics -- drinking, drugs, sex, and so forth -- is never easy for parents. I don't know what tact you take with your kids, but I try to just bring the subject up whenever it seems natural. For example, my son saw a commercial for margaritas made with a certain tequila the other day and he asked a question -- it made for a great intro into a discussion about drinking. Talking to kids about sex is just as important. And, according to a recent survey, having your teens voluntarily take a virginity pledge may help some abstain from having sex.

While virginity pledges have been promoted by some churches, schools, and universities for several years, their effectiveness was questionable at best. According to the survey, however, taking the pledge may be helpful for some students. The study found that 34% of youths that took the pledge went on to have sex within three years. 42% of teens who didn't take the pledge become sexually active. It may not be earth-shattering, but 8% is a healthy improvement in this parent's opinion.

The fact of the matter is a lot of kids do have sex. While it's wise to teach our kids about the physical and emotional impacts of sex and the importance of safety, promoting abstinence is by far the healthiest path.

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For the parents out there: do your children spend a lot of time in front of a screen most of the day? If you have teenagers (or happen to be one) then "screen time" is another term for "hobby." I played sports as a kid, but even back then I tried to absorb video games and TV like a sponge. Well according to Canadian researchers, some teenagers spend as much time in front of a screen as it takes to be employed in a full-time job.

That's in the ballpark of 40 hours per week. Over a thousand teens were studied for half a decade beginning in 1999 to assess habits related to watching TV, playing games, and using computers. Collectively, this was known as screen time.

Guys are the big offenders, over half of whom absorbed over 40 hours in total time spent in front of a screen. Only about a quarter of the girls spent that much time soaking up the technology. It's always interesting to see connections like this drawn, even if they refer to teens of a different region. Judging by activities back in the States, things are not drastically dissimilar over here.

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A new study says that teenage boys in the U.S. are increasingly seeing eating disorders, and that the rate of those problems rose greatly between the years of 1995 and 2005.

Eating disorders, which are generally connected in the media to teenage girls (not boys), involve all forms of weight control. These include dieting, diet product use, purging, exercise and vigorous exercise. Are guys working out a little too much or are they not eating enough?

The study, which looked at CDC data from that 10-year period, found that increased weight control behavior in teen males suggested growing social pressure for unrealistic body expectations -- the same reason given in recent years for female eating disorders.

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Are U.S teenagers a happy go lucky bunch these days? According to a new federal report, not so much. An average day in the life of a U.S. teen involves smoking, drinking and some illegal drug use by many.

No, that's not really an "average" day for many, but it is for some. Here's the explanation from the report: on an average day, nearly 1.2 million teenagers smoked cigarettes, 631,000 drank and 586,000 used marijuana. Those are pretty large numbers, right?

Even further, nearly 50,000 used inhalants, 27,000 used hallucinogens, 13,000 used cocaine and 3,800 used heroin. Those numbers may sound small out of the millions of teenagers in the U.S., but they are not at all. As the report concluded, "In the United States in 2006, one-third of adolescents aged 12 to 17 drank alcohol in the past year, one-fifth used an illicit drug and one-sixth smoked."

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For any parent out there who has seen any of those To Catch a Predator shows about adults posing as teenagers online in order to make friends and more with unsuspecting kids, this news may be a bit unsettling. Apparently, teens contacted online by total strangers aren't overly concerned about the people attempting to chat with them, and don't question their motives.

According to the report, 44% of teenagers who have posted a profile or pictures of themselves online at social networking sites like facebook and myspace have been contacted by someone they don't know, compared with only 6% of those who do not have profiles. Furthermore, most of those kids aren't worried about why they're being contacted.

I know that when I was a teenager there was no way I would have been allowed to post any information about myself online, and I also think that I would have been freaked out if a total stranger stopped by to say hello. I suppose times do change though and now that these networking sites are the norm, kids are probably more used to making contacts with strangers online. Hopefully, they're being savy about it as well.

What do you parents out there think about your kids making 'friends' with strangers online?

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What's the key to curbing underage binge drinking? Make it legal, according to Stanton Peele, psychologist and author of "Addiction-Proof Your Child." He argues that if you encourage a healthy attitude towards drinking and don't forbid your teenagers from doing it, it will lead to responsible drinking. He cites many countries in Europe as proof, since many countries there allow teenagers to drink and their are less alcohol abuse problems over the pond than here. What do you think?

I'm kind of on the fence about this subject. I do agree that it's safer for kids to drink when their parents are around than to feel pressure to sneak off with their friends to get drunk in a potentially dangerous situation. But are parents really teaching responsible drinking when they're breaking the law to allow their teenager to drink? That seems to be like encouraging them to drive safely by allowing them to speed and run red lights.

Is any amount of alcohol safe for adolescents?

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Here are some scary statistics: In a national poll done in the UK, it was discovered that 38% of teenage girls eat less than 1200 calories a day because they want to slim down. What's more, half of them didn't even get 2.5 servings of fruit and veggies a day, and very few had a healthy concept of proper nutrition. Looking back on my teenage years -- a time when one McDonald's Happy meal a day was my diet of choice, because more than that would make me gain weight -- I don't find it surprising, but it's still a little alarming -- haven't teenagers learnt anything?

I think this is a good reminder to talk to your teenager or child about what a healthy weight is and how to slim down with starving yourself. And the time to have this talk is now ... don't you agree?

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Vending machines seem to be lurking around every corner, tempting us with their quick, convenient snacks. Even I, a self-professed junk food hater, fall prey to them every now and then. They're a dangerous thing when you're hungry and a long walk from the nearest cafe.

But you know what institution has the most vending machines? Schools. According to this article, 98% of high schools have vending machines, compared with 90% of middle schools and 43% of elementary schools. Now, if that's not bad marketing directed at kids, I don't know what is. I know that in my high school, the vending machine was a way of raising funds, but I think schools should find a better way to do this.

What's your take on the dreaded vending machine?

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