Never too young to have worries
What do adolescents worry about most? Grades and personal appearance top the list, according to a recent poll of 1,000 children and young teenagers across the country.
The youngsters were asked how often they worried about eight different issues that had been chosen as top concerns during an earlier survey.
Besides grades and personal appearance, the poll showed that other top concerns were "problems at home" and "being liked."
Many of the youngsters said they worry about everything in their lives every now and then.
The poll was done by KidsHealth, a consortium of health-education groups.
In addition to ranking the things that cause the most stress for 9- to 13-year-olds, the poll asked the children how they deal with stress. Most said they talk to a parent or friend. A few said they don't tell anyone or they try to deal with it on their own.
If it seems surprising that preteens are worrying more about their appearance than about their home lives, specialists say that reflects an important shift in the issues faced by young people.
"Things that used to bother 13- and 14-year-olds are now bothering children who are younger," said Linda Hodge, National PTA president. "That's why we push parental involvement and building two-way communication, which involves listening as much as talking."
The multiple-choice poll did not directly ask children about sex or drugs, but even for children who are barely into their teens, sex and drugs are "very much an issue," Hodge said.
KidsHealth in May released the results of a similar poll conducted about alcohol, in which 29 percent of those surveyed said they had been offered an alcoholic drink.
Hodge suggested that parents establish good communication with their children before launching conversations about sex and drugs so that their children will be more open to discussing what can be awkward topics.
The polls were a joint effort of the National Association of Health Education Centers, the Nemours Center for Children's Health Media, and Southern Illinois University's Department of Health Education and Recreation, which questioned young people at 10 sites across the country.
