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- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
ChooseMyPlate.gov
Choose my Plate offers personalized eating plans, interactive tools to help you plan and assess your food choices, and advice to help you make better choices.'
Stay Healthy at College With MyPlate On Campus
The MyPlate On Campus Initiative aims to spread healthy eating messages to college students to empower them to improve their eating and exercise habits and encourage their peers to do the same. MyPlate On Campus offers tools, such as a tracker that develops personalized nutrition and activity plans for users, and tip sheets on topics such as choosing healthy snacks and creative ways to exercise. Students interested in promoting wellness at their schools can become MyPlate On Campus Ambassadors and gain leadership experience while hosting fitness and healthy eating activities for their fellow students.
Resource: 2015 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) Data
This resource includes 2015 BRFSS data and related information. The BRFSS is a state-based surveillance system that uses survey phone calls to collect information on risk behaviors, clinical preventive health practices, and health care access for adults 18 and older.
Report: Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015
This report presents the most recent estimates of expenditures by families on children annually across childhood and adolescence. The report indicates that a middle-income married-couple family will spend between $12,350 and $13,900 annually, or $233,610 from birth through age 17, on child-rearing expenses.
Upcoming Event: November is National Adoption Month
This observance aims to increase national awareness of the need for permanent families for children and youth in the foster care system. This year’s theme, “We Never Outgrow the Need for Family—Just Ask Us,” reflects a focus on the importance of identifying permanent families for the thousands of 15- to 18-year-olds in foster care who are currently less likely to be adopted or who may age out of the system without a stable home. A new tip sheet, Talking with Older Youth About Adoption (PDF, 2 pages) provides child welfare professionals with a framework for how to talk with older youth about permanency and includes suggestions for how to make these conversations more effective.
Resource: Combatting Discrimination Against AANHPI and MASSA Students
This policy fact sheet (PDF, 1 page) supports educators and community leaders as they work to protect all students, including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian (MASSA) students, from discrimination and to create safe and supportive learning environments.
Children and Identity Theft
This resource from the Federal Trade Commission offers steps to help parents avoid, recognize, and repair the damage caused by child identity theft.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule
Understanding the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule has been simplified by the Federal Trade Commission through this set of frequently asked questions.
Heads Up! A Guide to Online Safety
This blog entry from the Federal Trade Commission illustrates the risks that young people encounter when communicating and socializing online and provides a few key questions for teens to ask themselves before posting to social networks.
Keeping Up with Kids’ Apps
This blog post from the Federal Trade Commission highlights a new infographic, titled “Keeping Up with Kids’ Apps” that can help parents as they make decisions about what apps their children should download.
Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures Are Disapointing
This report by the Federal Trade Commission, “Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures Are Disappointing,” reveals that mobile app developers and distributors are not providing information around what data is being collected when children use apps, and how this data is shared.
Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online
The FTC developed “Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online,” a booklet for parents, teachers, and other adults to use when having conversations with young people about online safety. Recent updates to the booklet include tips on using mobile apps and Wi-Fi, ways to recognize text message spam, and changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
OnGuard Online
The Federal Trade Commission manages OnGuardOnline.gov, in partnership with other federal agencies. OnGuardOnline.gov is a partner in the Stop Think Connect campaign, led by the Department of Homeland Security, and part of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This is an educational website, providing educators, parents, kids, and others with information on online safety.
Resources on Children's Online Privacy
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) requires commercial website operators to get parental consent before collecting any personal information of kids under 13.
These Online High Schools Didn’t Make the Grade
FTC has charged companies known as “diploma mills” for selling fake high school diplomas that they promise can be used to apply for college and employment. Users may be dealing with a diploma mill if the company states that they charge a flat fee; can provide a diploma in months, weeks, or days; require little or no coursework; or can offer a degree solely for “work or life experience.”
2013 Monitoring the Future Survey
The Monitoring the Future survey, conducted annually, measures the current drug use, and attitudes toward drugs, of students in grades 8, 10, and 12 across the country. Results included observed declines in the abuse of prescription opioids, alcohol, and cigarettes by teens, the use of synthetic marijuana, Vicodin, and salvia among twelfth graders, and the use of inhalants by eighth graders, but an increase in teens’ use of Adderall. The results also reveal that less than 40% of high school seniors believed that regular marijuana users risk harming themselves, meaning that the perception by seniors that regular marijuana may be dangerous is the lowest it has been since 1978.
Accelerating HPV Vaccine Uptake: Urgency for Action to Prevent Cancer
This report, released by the President’s Cancer Panel, outlines the case for HPV vaccination and the urgency for action. The report presents three goals: to reduce missed opportunities to recommend/administer HPV vaccines; to increase acceptance of the vaccines among parents, caregivers, and youth; and to maximize access to HPV vaccination services
Alcohol Policy Information System
The Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) provides detailed information on a wide variety of alcohol-related policies in the United States at both State and Federal levels.
Charge Up! Healthy Meals and Snacks for Teens
This document guides teens in making healthy food choices, offers examples of smart snack and meal ideas, and gives links to other healthy eating resources.
Child Sex Trafficking Victims Easily Missed by Doctors, Social Workers
A new study reveals that most health care workers may lack the knowledge, awareness, and training needed to identify potential victims of child sex trafficking. A survey of 500 doctors, nurses, physicians assistants, social workers, and patient and family advocates revealed that, when given two different scenarios, only half or fewer than half of respondents were able to correct identify a child as victim of sex trafficking.
Director’s Blog: What Caused This to Happen?
Written by NIMH Director Dr. Thomas Insel, this blog post explains the mixture of genetic and environmental factors that underly mental illness and cites recent research that suggests “bad luck” may play a role in the development of psychopathology.
Drug Addiction: Step-by-Step Guides for Seeking Help
NIDA has released new step-by-step guides both for those seeking help to overcome drug addiction and their loved ones. The guides are presented in a simple Q&A format with accompanying videos and are customized into four categories: (1) teens seeking help, (2) adults seeking help, (3) parents/guardians seeking help for their teen/young adult child, and (4) those trying to help an adult loved one.
E-Cigarette Use in College Tied to Other Risky Behaviors
A new study of more than 1,400 college students shows that students who use tobacco, marijuana, and/or binge drink are more likely to use electronic cigarettes. The survey results also show that students who considered e-cigarettes to be less harmful than traditional tobacco products were also more likely to use e-cigarettes.
Get Involved: NIDA's National Drug Facts Week
Get involved with NIDA’s fifth annual Drug Facts Week. Host or promote events for teens that help shatter the myths about drugs, and expose teens to facts about drugs and addiction from scientists and other experts. NIDA staff can recommend materials and activities, help organizations partner with one another, and highlight events on the official 2015 National Drug Facts Week map.
Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know
This resource provides parents with tips on how to spot marijuana use by their teen and how to raise the issue with them.