Dr Margaret Villers conducted a study that shows 6 percent of normal weight teens, 11 percent of overweight teens, and 15 percent of obese teens had sex before the age of 13.

She doesn't know why the obese teens had sex earlier, but she knows birth control isn't used much. It's possible obese teens have low self-esteem and they don't like their body so they feel good when a boy wants to have sex.

No matter what your child's weight is, you need to talk to them about sex and keep the line of communication open.

This mama thinks she might be putting ideas into her kids by talking to them about sex and drugs. She probably is.

http://tinyurl.com/2brj99b

I had some folks pretty darned uncomfortable at the National Foster Parent Association Conference. Some people had a very hard time accepting the idea of  sexual behavior in children as natural and healthy.

Very. Hard. Time.

I suspect they don’t think any sexual behavior is natural or healthy, but I didn’t go there.

One funny thing that happens to me is that I’ll often end up saying one word or phrase repeatedly - usually because I’m using it as an example.

This time, it was masturbation. Masturbation, masturbation, masturbation.

One of the participants was very open with his opinion that masturbation is wrong. So open, that he sent me an email with references to prove his point.

I learned some things - like men loose 1/3 of their RDA of zinc when they jerk off and this can effect testosterone levels. When they have sex with a female, her vaginal secretions counteract this event.

Masturbation has been linked to increased cases of prostate cancer among men.

Interestingly, he didn’t provide any information about women and masturbation.

My guess is his view of masturbation is motivated by his religious belief - spilling seed and all that. For me, this holds more water than any “scientific” anti-wanking support.

I happen to think that being opposed to masturbation for religious reasons is justification enough. Your values, your choice.

I am just back from Baltimore and the National Foster Parent Association annual conference. I was accepted to present two classes - Sexual Behavior in Children and the Stewards of Children training by Darkness to Light, an excellent child sexual abuse organization.

Foster parents are amazing people and I am completely impressed with their dedication, huge hearts and ability to care for some of the most challenging kids ever. I couldn’t do it. Well, I probably could, but right now, I wouldn’t.

The rate of sexual abuse among foster kids is 4 times that of the national average. If kids are in a group home, the numbers are even higher - in part due to the prevalence of child-to-child abuse.

These wonderful people take in kids who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect and upheaval that many of us can’t even imagine. And, frankly, don’t even dare to imagine. We’d rather not think about it.

But they think about it every day, when they invite these kids into their homes and integrate them into their families. They think about it when the children visit their biological families and come back to them in tears. They think about it when the child has night terrors.

And they think about it when the child goes home to their biological parents, gets adopted by another family or when they adopt the child themselves.

What about you? Could you be a foster parent? Every kid deserves to have a healthy, happy, experience in a family. How about yours?