Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Wings for L.I.F.E. - CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Wings For Life Event - Cultural Diversity, Celebrating Our Differences

Life-skills Imparted to Families through Education

PRESENTORS: Cuic Gonzales (Mexico), Melinda Kline (Navajo Nation), Suparna Shinganapurkar (India)

Doors open at 5:45 PM. Meeting starts at 6:00PM and doors will be shut at 6:15PM

Drawings to be held for: 2 gas cards AND dinner for 2 at Capitol

Roswell Boys & Girls Club
201 S. Garden
SUNDAY, March 4th, 2012

6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

For Questions call: Shelly @ 317-204

Dinner: Mexican Food plus some food specialties from our guests
Crafts for children in a family friendly environment
(Sitter available)

Monday, February 20, 2012

Gender non-conformity increases kids' risk of abuse

Children whose activity choices, interests and pretend play don't conform to expected gender roles face an increased risk of abuse and future trauma, a new study finds.

The increased risk for non-conforming kids vs. conforming kids was similar in both sexes for physical and psychological abuse.

The increased risk for non-conforming kids vs. conforming kids was similar in both sexes for physical and psychological abuse.

One in 10 kids display gender non-conformity before age 11 and, on average, are more likely to experience physical, psychological and sexual abuse and experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by early adulthood, says the study of nearly 9,000 young adults published online Monday in Pediatrics.

The abuse was perpetrated mostly by parents or other adults in the home, says lead study author Andrea Roberts, a research associate in the department of society, human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The study focused on behaviors in childhood before age 11. At that stage, children often "exhibit a wide variety of behaviors that mean nothing about their future sexual preferences," Roberts says. She notes that 85% of gender-non-conforming children in the study were heterosexual in adulthood. In childhood, however, those who were not "extremely typical in their gender expression" faced "harmful discrimination and intolerance that has a lasting impact."

The childhood behaviors were culled from questionnaires completed by a sample of adults ages 17 to 27 of all sexual orientations enrolled in the study. Respondents were asked in 2005 to recall their childhood experiences, including favorite toys and games, whether they took male or female roles in pretend play, and media characters they imitated and admired.

They also were asked about physical, sexual or emotional abuse they experienced and were screened for PTSD in 2007.

The increased risk for non-conforming kids vs. conforming kids was similar in both sexes for physical and psychological abuse. For sexual abuse, non-conforming girls were at 60% greater risk than conforming girls, but non-conforming boys were at nearly three times greater risk compared with conforming boys.

Rates of PTSD were almost twice as high among young adults who were gender non-conforming as kids than among those who were not. PTSD has been linked to risky behavior such as engaging in unprotected sex and to physical symptoms such as cardiovascular problems and chronic pain, according to the study.

More research is needed to understand why gender-non-conforming kids experience greater risk of abuse, says Roberts. Parents who are uncomfortable with or feel negative toward a child who exhibits gender non-conformity "may have the idea, 'If I force him not to be that way, he won't be like that as an adult.' "

This article can be found at USA Today.com.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Department of Health Releases New Child Obesity Report

Data Shows High Percentage of New Mexico’s Children are Overweight or Obese

(Santa Fe) – The New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) today released their 2011 report detailing New Mexico’s childhood obesity rates, “The Weight of Our Children: 2011 New Mexico Childhood Obesity Report.” The report shows that 15 percent of kindergarten students and more than 21 percent of third graders are obese; and that American Indian students in New Mexico suffer from obesity at a high rate than other ethnic groups.

“Obesity at a young age can have a very serious effect on the overall health of children and can lead to other negative health conditions later in life such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes,” said DOH Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Catherine Torres. “This report should be a call to action for families, schools, communities and the state to help children at younger ages develop healthy eating and active living behaviors and to create the environmental and policy changes to promote these behaviors. Healthy eating and active living are the two major lifestyle choices that can prevent obesity, but based on our findings in the report, New Mexican children and adolescents eat poorly and lead sedentary lives.”

According to the report, in 2011, 15 percent of kindergarten and 21.9 percent of third grade students were obese. Students in the obese category weighed substantially more than their counterparts in the healthy weight category. For example, the average weight of third grade students in the healthy weight category was 60.4 pounds compared to obese third grade students’ average weight of 101.5 pounds, with some weighing more than 140 pounds. One in three American Indian third grade students were obese in 2011 compared to one in five Hispanic and one in eight white, non-Hispanic third graders.

Patty Morris, director of DOH’s Office of Nutrition and Physical Activity, said in addition to childhood obesity increasing the risk of high cholesterol, hypertension and other precursors to cardiovascular disease, childhood obesity is also associated with increases in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children, which can lead to liver scarring and cirrhosis.

“The list of negative health consequences of obesity among New Mexico children is extensive,” said Morris, who developed the new report. “Type 2 diabetes is no longer called adult-onset because of its alarming rates in our youth, a phenomenon that rarely existed a generation ago. In the 1980s, type 2 diabetes was virtually unknown in teens. Obese children also may be more vulnerable to weight-based bullying and social isolation, thereby resulting in a greater risk of low self-esteem, depression and suicide.”

DOH is addressing the childhood obesity crisis in several ways including the Healthy Kids New Mexico program and by implementing new community-based programs that will be funded by the Community Transformation Grant. Healthy Kids New Mexico includes partnerships with several many state and local schools and other organizations that combines and creates healthy programs to give kids what they need to play well, eat well, learn and live fully.

In 2011, DOH received $1.5 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and this funding of is the first of what is expected to be a five year award totaling $7.5 million towards prevention. The Department will target prevention strategies in 10 counties and 4 tribal communities in New Mexico with greatest health disparities and with strong American Indian, Hispanic, and U.S. - Mexico border population representation with the Community Transformation funding. The targeted counties were selected based on population size, poverty status, racial and ethnic, diversity, geographic diversity, chronic disease burden, and readiness to implement prevention programs. The targeted counties are: McKinley, Cibola, Rio Arriba, Guadalupe, Curry, Chaves, Lea, Socorro, Luna, and Dona Ana. The targeted tribal communities are: San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Zuni, and Mescalero.

Data for the report was gathered from 28 schools throughout the state that provided DOH with heights and weights of 3,658 kindergarten and third grade students. The data was used to calculate a Body Mass Index (BMI) percentile. The BMI percentile includes height, weight, age and gender to calculate weight status. The University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center and the CDC collaborated with DOH on the data analysis.

“The Weight of our Children; 2011 New Mexico Childhood Obesity Report” can be found online at http://department%20of%20health%20releases%20new%20child%20obesity%20report/. For more information about the Healthy Kids New Mexico program go online to http://www.healthykidsnm.org/.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Information on Teen Dating Violence

Most teenagers do not experience physical aggression when they date. However, for one in 10 teens, abuse is a very real part of dating relationships.

According to the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, approximately 10 percent of adolescents nationwide reported being the victim of physical violence at the hands of a romantic partner during the previous year.[1] The rate of psychological victimization is even higher: Between two and three in 10 reported being verbally or psychologically abused in the previous year, according to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.[2]

For more go to Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships,

Monday, February 6, 2012

Wings for L.I.F.E. - The Effects of Trauma on Children

Wings for L.I.F.E.

(Life-skills Imparted to Families through Education)

THE EFFECTS OF “TRAUMA” ON CHILDREN: What we as parents can do to HELP!
Presented by: Billy Bowers, LMSW – CYFD

Learn about a child’s response to trauma

Doors open at 5:45 PM. Meeting starts at 6:00PM and doors will be shut at 6:15PM

A drawing will be held for “Valentine’s Day”

Roswell Boys & Girls Club
201 S. Garden
SUNDAY, February 12th, 2012
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

For Questions call: Shelly @ 317-2042

Dinner provided & crafts for children in a family friendly environment
(Sitter available)