Global Teen Health Week Kicks Off On Main Line March 18

Global Teen Health Week is March 18 through March 24 and you can kick off the week-long event on the Maine line.

The Center For Families at 1225 Montrose Ave. in Bryn Mawr will hold a special Global Teen Health Week Kickoff event from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 18.

Attendees will be able to enjoy yoga and a wellness program for teens and their families, and includes a free yoga mat and t-shirt for the first 200 participants, plus refreshments and other giveaways.

PennCare Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine will serve as the host for this Kick Off Event, as well as serve as Global Sponsor for Teen Health Week.

At the Kickoff Event, a number of "Teen Champions" will be recognized, and one will be awarded with a prize and the title of 2018 Teen Champion.

Organizers are looking to recognize exceptional teens in our local middle schools, high schools, and colleges, who have contributed to the health and well-being of their peers and young people.

The requirements to nominate a teen are online here.

Teen Health Week is an annual initiative encouraging teens to take charge of their physical and mental health, and helping them develop a lifetime of healthy habits. A major focus of the multitude of events is educating teens and adults about teen health issues, including raising awareness of how teens are affected by preventive care, vaccine, diet and exercise, violence, self harm, oral health, and mental and sexual issues.

Dr. Laura Offutt was inspired to create Teen Health Week while working with a group of her youth advisors in the summer of 2015. The week of designation furthered Dr. Offutt's mission of providing "answers, not judgement" regarding teen health issues via Real Talk with Dr. Offutt.

Offutt created this digital health resource in 2013 as her children began middle school and high school. It was at this time that Offutt recognized that teens needed a central health information source that they could rely on and trust, and where they could ask anonymous questions and get accurate answers without shame, judgment or embarrassment.

"There were interactive social media resources about specific health topics available to teens, or more comprehensive, impersonal general health websites," Offutt said, "but teens trust online health information if they can identify the expert behind it, and Real Talk with Dr. Offutt is a comprehensive trusted source, where teens know they can submit anonymous questions and see a physician’s general answers to questions that other teens had posed."

Dr Janice Hillman, of Penn Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine, was the catalyst to bring the practice in as Global Sponsor.

This is a unique practice that focuses solely on the needs of young women and men ages 12 to 30.

It provides primary care in a comprehensive manner with a full understanding of the physical and psychological changes associated with the transition to adulthood, and has two locations in Radnor and Chesterbrook.

Their sponsorship is funded by generous support of the Powell Family Foundation. Hillman represents the practice in this effort and has become, with Offutt, a champion for the Teen Health Week mission.

The first Teen Health Week, in January 2016 was launched with the support of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, the PA Physician General, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

In 2017 the Teen Health Week launch event was held in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg.

2018 marks the first year this event goes international, with events across the globe.

Participants in host cities will wear and share the neon green logo in person and on social media (using #2018teenhealth), and take part in a multitude events from lectures, to interactive projects, to hands-on physical activities.

Image via Shutterstock