The US Food and Drug Administration has recently approved the use of the Gardasil vaccine for use in teen males. You might be wondering why, as Gardasil was marketed as the first vaccine to prevent cancer - cervical cancer specifically. Since a boy doesn't have a cervix, why would he need this shot?

The answer is three-fold. First, the Gardasil vaccine doesn't only prevent cervical cancer, it also prevents genital warts. Both cervical cancer and genital warts are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), and Gardasil is essentially an HPV vaccine. Boys can get genital warts, and the HPV vaccine will help to protect them from this STD. Second, the HPV vaccine protects boys from penile or anal cancer. Although these are more rare conditions, it is a nice benefit of the shot. Lastly, there is some thought that boys become the carrier for the various strains of HPV, including those that cause cervical cancer. If he isn't carrying that strain of virus that causes cervical cancer, it might help to protect his female partner. I know we don't want to think of our teen sons having sex, but at some point in his lifetime, he probably will. If he gets the shot in his teens, it might protect his wife or partner in the future.

Ask your pediatrician today about the HPV vaccine for your son.

Has your teen had surgery to repair a torn or injured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)? New information from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says that teens who have had an ACL fixed will need further intervention at higher rates than other groups. Doesn't make sense if you think about how young and healthy teens tend to be - or does it?

In fact, it's because teens are so healthy and active that the ACL needs more work. Teens tend to ignore advice that is meant to protect any original surgery on the ligament and "overdo it." The long and short of it is that if your teen has had this kind of reconstructive surgery, it's important for him or her to adhere to what they are told about their limitations. It will help to protect their health and perhaps prevent additional surgeries.

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times took a look at how tanning salons treat their teen customers. The article covers recent research about how these salons adhere to FDA guidelines and state laws regarding teen tanning. Not surprisingly, those states that have stricter rules had more salons that required written parental consent. Many fewer required a parent to accompany a teen to an appointment - although this is presumably a better indicator of parental consent. It's easy to imagine how a parental consent might not be signed by an actual parent!

More concerning is that most salons allow for - and even promote - more tanning than is recommended. Only 11% of tanning salons followed the FDA regulations for limiting first-time tanners to only three days the first week. Additionally, many salons offer "all-you-can-tan" packages, encouraging overuse of the tanning beds.

It's clear that teen tanning has it's dangers. The World Health Organization promotes a ban on teen tanning, and that might just be the best thing we can do to protect our teens from this common danger.

The September 18 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report had good news and bad news about teen immunizations. The good news is that immunization rates are up for teens - an increase of 10% from 2007 to 2008. The bad news is that only 40% of teens are up-to-date with their shots, specifically the Tdap and meningitis vaccines.

I know that it is hard to carve out time for a teen checkup, but checkups are an important time for your provider to screen your teen for potential health concerns. It's also a great time for the provider to talk to your teen about his or her overall health - both physically and emotionally - and how to promote health in all parts of life. And, of course, checkup time is shot time!

If your teen has had a recent checkup - great job! If it's been a while, call your provider's office and see if your teen needs to be seen or if any immunizations are needed. Your teen will thank you. (Well, maybe not, but you're doing the right thing anyway!)

A blog post a little while back generated some interest, so it made sense to provide more information on this important topic.

Texting is a relatively new phenomenon, so there are few words of wisdom that grandparents can pass down to parents of teens. I love texting because I can provide short bites of information in an efficient way. On the other hand, texting can have some drawbacks, particularly for teens. Read my newest article on teen texting dangers. Let me know what you think in the Teen Health Forum - is texting a problem for your teen?

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing the book "Hurry Down Sunshine" by Michael Greenberg. This terrific book details how the author dealt with his teen daughter's mental illness. It is a quick and engaging read. As a matter of fact, I finished it in a weekend!

I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Greenberg (coming soon!) and he shared something interesting with me. He said that many teens felt as if they could relate to his daughter even though they did not have her mental illness. His struggle to communicate with his daughter who was sick seemed to parallel the difficulties that the average teen has when communicating with his or her parents. Fascinating stuff, and reason enough to read this fascinating book.

With every thing that is in the news about the swine flu, including scary estimates of how many will die from it this season, it's hard not to panic. There are a few common sense things that you and your teen can do to stay protected.

The CDC recommends the basics - wash your hands, use a hand sanitizer if necessary. If you have a teen who is going to college, I highly recommend having a talk with them about staying healthy in general. Eat a balanced diet, get enough rest, avoid others who are sick, get some exercise - college students tend to put themselves though the ringer and that makes them more likely to get sick.

When available, consider having your teen get the swine flu vaccine. No one can really tell us what will or won't happen this season. Taking all the precautions available to you and your family gives everyone the best shot at staying healthy!

I had once gone to a meeting at my local high school about our school lunches. I expected to find out that our lunches were completely nutritionally void. What I found was that the woman in charge of the school district's food services was someone who took nutrition seriously. Fresh vegetables and fruit were available at each lunch. A variety of veggies were offered in a rotation so that a child wasn't just eating cooked carrots every day. There was even a successful push to stop allowing junk food to be sold in vending machines. I left feeling satisfied that someone was taking nutrition seriously.

After learning even more about nutrition, I discovered that these small steps our school was taking were good, but not great. I've learned more about eating a whole foods diet - fewer processed foods, fewer preservatives and additives, more home cooking. I reviewed a nice, short book on this subject recently, and it reinforced how I was beginning to feel about food. Now, there is a great website to help parents and schools alike improve their school's nutritional intelligence. The Lunch Box is a newly launched website with information for parents and for administrators about how we could be feeding our kids and teens. The site promotes using fresh, locally grown food for school meals. This would help to reduce the use of processed foods and heavily preserved foods. This is not only good for our children, but good for the environment and local farmers. I challenge parents to get involved in this important issue. Each one of us is busy, but there is no better time to help promote good nutrition for your teen than now.