Nowadays, the onset of puberty is early by almost two years or so, while the marriage has been postponed by almost five years or so. Physically the body has grown to produce the child, but child birth is permitted after marriage in our society, which result into almost 10 to 12 years period period between physical ability and marriage. Adolescents should be physically, cognitively, and emotionally aware about mature sexual relationship and their consequences like AIDS, premature pregnancy and risk of abortion.

The key goal of comprehensive reproductive healthcare education is to help adolescents to postpone sexual intercourse until marriage. Interventions those are effective in encouraging teenagers to postpone sexual intercourse, help young adult to develop the interpersonal skills they need to resist premature sexual involvement.

A strong abstinence message as well as information about contraception and safer sex will make them responsible about themselves. For interventions to be most effective, young adult need to be exposed to the information preferably 18 to 20 years of age. Reproductive healthcare education does not encourage teens to start having sexual intercourse, increase the frequency of intercourse, or increase the number of sexual partners.

HIV/AIDS : What we and the adolescents we care about need to know

HIV : Human Immunodeficiency Virus is that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce.

AIDS : Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system.

A person who is HIV-infected carries the virus in certain body fluids, including blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk. The virus can be transmitted only if such HIV-infected fluids enter the bloodstream of another person. This kind of direct entry can occur
(1) through the linings of the vagina, rectum, mouth, and the opening at the tip of the penis;
(2) through intravenous injection with a syringe; or
(3) through a break in the skin, such as a cut or sore.

When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are the immune cells that normally protect us from disease. HIV infection is the progressive loss of a specific type of immune cell called T-helper or CD4 cells. As the virus grows, it damages or kills these and other cells, weakening the immune system and leaving the individual vulnerable to various opportunistic infections and other diseases.

Vitamin D: What is it?
Vitamin D, calciferol, is a fat-soluble vitamin. It is found in food, but also can be made in your body after exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. The major biological function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. It promotes bone mineralization in concert with a number of other vitamins, minerals, and hormones. Without vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, soft, or misshapen. Vitamin D prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, which are skeletal diseases that result in defects that weaken bones.

What are the sources of vitamin D?
Food sources : Fortified foods are the major dietary sources of vitamin D. Prior to the fortification of milk products, rickets (a bone disease seen in children) was a major public health problem. One cup of vitamin D fortified milk supplies about one-fourth of the estimated daily need for this vitamin for adults. Although milk is fortified with vitamin D, dairy products made from milk such as cheese, yogurt, and ice cream are generally not fortified with vitamin D.

Exposure to sunlight
Exposure to sunlight is an important source of vitamin D. Ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight trigger vitamin D synthesis in the skin. Season, latitude, time of day, cloud cover, smog, and sunscreens affect UV ray exposure. It is especially important for individuals with limited sun exposure to include good sources of vitamin D in their diet.

When can vitamin D deficiency occur?
A deficiency of vitamin D can occur when there is limited exposure to sunlight, when dietary intake of vitamin D is inadequate, when the kidney cannot convert vitamin D to its active form, or when someone cannot adequately absorb vitamin D from the gastrointestinal tract. In children, vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, which results in skeletal deformities. In adults, vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteomalacia, which results in muscular weakness in addition to weak bones.

Females who cover their body for religious/environmental reasons, and individuals working in occupations that prevent exposure to sunlight are at risk of a vitamin D deficiency. If these individuals are unable to meet their daily dietary need for vitamin D, they may need a supplement of vitamin D. Individuals who have reduced ability to absorb dietary fat (fat malabsorption) may need extra vitamin D because it is a fat soluble vitamin.

Vitamin D and osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by fragile bones. It results in increased risk of bone fractures. Having normal storage levels of vitamin D in your body helps keep bones strong and may help prevent osteoporosis in elderly, non-ambulatory individuals, in post-menopausal women, and in individuals on chronic steroid therapy. Normal bone is constantly being remodeled (broken down and rebuilt). During menopause, the balance between these two systems is upset, resulting in more bone being broken down than rebuilt. Estrogen replacement, which limits symptoms of menopause, can help slow down the development of osteoporosis by stimulating the activity of cells that rebuild bone.

Vitamin D Deficiency:
Prolonged deficiency of vitamin D results in changes in the bones of children and adults, and possible hearing loss with aging. In addition, rickets (in children) and osteomalacia (in adults) where bones are malformed and weak from poor calcium and phosphorus deposition. Osteoporosis is another adult disease that results from a poor dietary vitamin D and calcium intake. Hearing loss from vitamin D deficiency may progress as the adult ages due to increased porosity of the cochlea bone in the inner ear. Vitamin D supplementation usually repairs conditions caused by poor dietary intake. Prolonged exposure to sunlight does not cause vitamin D toxicity.

The best known activity of vitamin D is its role in maintaining bone. It functions by increasing the uptake of calcium from the intestine through interaction with the parathyroid glands in controlling bone resorption and serum calcium levels. The skeleton is the body's reservoir of calcium and provides calcium through resorption of mineral when serum levels of this essential element drop. Vitamin D also increases reabsorption of phosphate by the kidney tubule, and may directly affect the osteoblast, the cell which forms bone.

The diet is very low in vitamin D, unless you're consuming fish liver. Fortified foods, primarily dairy, are our major sources and may be produced by irradiation or by addition of synthetic forms of the vitamin. Supplementation with fish liver oils or extracts of these oils in capsules are important sources, especially for children or seniors living at higher latitudes and particularly during fall and winter. A reduced incidence of hip fractures has been shown for seniors using calcium and vitamin D supplements.

Daddy, you have to listen to me with your eyes as well as your ears.

As a concerned educator, understand that teaching about changes of adolescence is much more than passing along factual information. These critical lessons in personal development can have positive effects on students' sense of self-image and help them to take their first confident steps toward adulthood with a minimum of emotional discomfort and embarrassment. In addition, to striking the right tone of expert guidance & friendly support with the students, it is important to make sure that parents have the information they need to help their youngsters through this exciting - but challenging - time of life.

Clear Communication : Workshop discussion rules are developed, so that all students will feel comfortable sharing thoughts and feelings. Be positive! Educator help adolescents to develop attitudes about human development by setting the tone of the learning experience. How something is presented is often more powerful than what is said. A climate of openness and trust is encouraged. Students' comments and questions are accepted with identity or without identity. Let them know that their concerns and opinions are valid and worthwhile. We provide opportunities for students to ask questions anonymously, which is the easiest way to express their concerns. WE give students time to write down questions and deposit them in a Question Box. Then after we answer the questions later for the entire class. We encourage students to use proper terms for the parts of the body and their functions. Avoid putting anyone on the spot.

Parents Involvement : Encouraging parents' involvement when teaching about adolescence growth and development is important, because parents are the major influence on adolescents. Most parents support education on physical development in workshop. Discussions between a parent and a child can be difficult and awkward when they concern issues of puberty and human reproduction. Parents may feel that they lack sufficient information to answer their children's questions. Children may sense that their parents are reluctant to discuss these issues. Parents will welcome assistance in adjusting to the changes that their children will experience during early adolescence. Involving parents from the beginning is an important part of planning adolescence education. We invite parents to Parenting Workshop, where they will have the opportunity to:

* Learn the goals and objectives of the Adolescence Education.
* See the books / materials and to ask questions;
* Receive information about adolescence changes & development;
* Meet the educator, who will teach their children;
* Understand to communicate with their growing children.

"I think I'm NOT OK looking," the adolescent, age 12-14, felt that way. Some of it was due to the usual behaviour of children: comments on the playground, teasing by peers in the classroom, and so forth. Few adolescents may have felt: "Whenever I try to look at myself in the mirror and I think that my looks is not so good. "

There's a lot more to beauty than shapely figures, bulging biceps and blue eyes. Adolescents do often places too much emphasis on their appearance and how they compare with others. It would be shortsighted to try to convince our teenagers that they are good-looking. Teens in particular, often get so caught up in their appearance that the mirror becomes the sole measure of their worth. Every imperfection assumes huge importance, often exaggerated beyond its reality.

Teenagers face overwhelming pressure from television, movies, advertisements and their peers to believe that if guys don't look like Hritik Roshan or girls like Kareena Kapoor, they're unattractive and undesirable. In addition to this prepackaged image of what is beautiful and what is not, media also tout the idea that beauty equals happiness.

Overcoming such pressures is a formidable task, and one that requires patience and perseverance. No clever words or expensive purchase will overcome a teenager's feelings of inadequacy. We want our children to understand that there's a lot more to beauty than shapely figures, bulging biceps and blue eyes. We want to plant in them a conviction that beauty more often results from a person's attitude and disposition. Mahatama Gandhi is chosen Father of the nation, after all, not because of his appearance or physical attributes, but because of his other personality traits.

Too often we confine compliments to externals, such as a new outfit, rather than celebrating positive attitudes and positive behaviour about family relationships, life, school and people. So we adopted several practices that we think are helping our children develop appropriate, biblical ideas about their appearance and their value.

Can we observe our behaviour towards teenagers? :

When your teenage son or daughter comes home from the school / college today, receive with smile. Do that several days in a row and see the difference! Next time your teenager tells you a joke, laugh.

Make a list of all those behaviour your teenager have, that annoys you. Now, go through the list and delete all the points that doesn't really matter. Before you criticize your teenager's behavior, try remembering your own teenage years. Chances are it will help you communicate better. Save your anger only for those behaviour which have lasting moral consequences.

Go out for breakfast or lunch or dinner once a fortnight preferably at their choice of place. Promise yourself that you won't use that time to advice or lecture. Just listen and talk about good stuff. Experience the enjoyment together. Otherwise invite your teenager's friends to your house for snacks, soft drinks and a small get together. Arrange for the music of their liking.

Let your teenager keep his or her own money account for the month. Deposit monthly allowance and then allow him or her to do their own shopping for clothes, books, snacks, movies etc. and other necessities. This will help your teenager to learn the value for the money, responsibility and self-control.

You should allow your teenager's privacy. Snooping without a legitimate reason is not advisable. A college going teenager may search for their own identity and create a small world for themselves. Enter there with their permission.

You may ask your teenager to play his/her favorite music on your stereo. Listen and discuss the music with him or her. Find out why he/she likes it so much. Try to avoid criticism to their extra curricular activities and interests. Instead appreciate their efforts in achieving excellence in other fileds of life.

Love your spouse. A strong family provides security for teenagers. Mother and father happiness gives them more relief.

• THE WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MY BODY? Book for parents & sons by Lynda Madras
• THE WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MY BODY? Book for parents & daughters by Lynda Madras
• UNDERSTANDING YOUR TEENAGER by Wayne Rice and David Veerman
• HOW TO TALK SO KIDS CAN LEARN by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
• BETWEEN FATHER AND CHILD by Ronald Levant and John Kelly.