. . . Being a teen girl today is not like it was two or three decades ago. True, some things remain the same. Sweet little girls have always disappeared into sometimes-prickly young women. Teen hormones have always bubbled and stewed, creating a paradox of sweet and sour, push and pull, hold on and let go. Teens today are as apt to run into the same predictable emotional and physical challenges of growing up as their mothers did. But there are more complicating factors now. To name a few:

• A pervasive fast-food and convenience culture that promotes overeating and unhealthful foods. The obesity epidemic is well documented, and teens and youngsters are a big part of the sorry statistics.
  
• A shallow and exploitive pop culture that over-sexualizes just about everything, especially teen girls.
  
• A fast-forward society steeped in stress.
  
• A disintegrating family structure in which the kids often get lost in the shuffle.

Did you know?

• The age of puberty is declining, so it is not unusual for six- and seven-year-old girls to begin developing breasts and sprouting pubic hair.
  
• The use of antidepressant prescriptions for children increased by 50 percent between 1998 and 2002, and the use of such drugs among children grew three- to tenfold between 1987 and 1996. And although FDA warnings in 2004 that antidepressants increase suicidal behavior in some children resulted in a 20 percent drop in U.S. pediatric prescriptions, many doctors continue to prescribe them.
  
• One out of four teens is overweight, and one out of eight is obese.
  
• Approximately 25 percent of U.S. children live in single-parent homes. These children are 4.6 times more likely to commit suicide, 6.6 times more likely to become teen moms, and 24.3 times more likely to run away than those from two-parent homes.

See Nisha Jackson’s latest book, Surviving the Teenage Hormone Takeover: A Guide for Moms.