Talking with teens about their health isn’t always a favourite conversation. Researchers with the Prevention Research Centers Network (PRC) found that parents have more influence over teens’ health than most people realize.

“While some adolescents are very skillful in convincing us that we are no longer pertinent in their lives, we make the mistake of believing that,”Michael Resnick Ph.D., a researcher on adolescent health and director of University of Minnesota’s PRC, says. “The research definitely contradicts that cultural stereotype.”

Dr. Resnick discovered that teens who feel they can talk with parents and other caring adults are more likely to avoid suicide, eating disorders, emotional distress, and risky sexual behavior.

Many teens admit that, despite appearances to the contrary, they really do care about their parents and want close relationships.

“The parents sort of set the patterns,”Kristina Anne Jareno, 16, is a 16-year-old high school senior from Long Beach, Calif. She is part of the youth advisory panel of the PRC at UCLA/RAND. She said that parents make decisions about nutrition and exercise that can have a negative impact on her friends.

Jareno stated that her role models are not only older siblings or cousins, but her parents who Jareno cites as the reason she studies hard and avoids peer pressure are also important.

“My parents are the most influential people in my life,”She spoke.

Mark Schuster M.D., Ph.D. director of UCLA/RAND PRC provides these tips to help parents talk with their teens about topics such as nutrition, exercise, and sex.

* Start talking about health when children are young, and keep the lines of communication open. Never tell your child that he/she is too young for a question. But use age-appropriate responses.

* Instead of criticizing a teen all the time, notice your child doing something good, offer a compliment.

* Ask questions that can open a conversation, such as “What do you think about that?” “What’s on your mind?”

* Let your teen know why you want to have the conversation with phrases like “I want to understand the things you’re going through,” and “There is a lot of misinformation out there.”

* Listen without interrupting or jumping in with advice. To ensure you understand your child’s words, you should rephrase them and let him/her know that you are listening.

* Help your children learn to make decisions on their own. Allow them to come up with solutions and then have them go through them. Then, let them choose the one they like best. Then, you can add your ideas.

* Teach your children assertiveness skills that will help them avoid unhealthy behaviors.

* Never underestimate a parent’s power of example.

The PRC network consists of 33 academic research centres located across the country. They are supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eight centers are mainly focused on adolescents’ health. Visit http://www.adolescenthealth.org for more information.www.cdc.gov/prc.