The Adolescent Well Visit
It is important for teens to receive a well-visit each year. An adolescent well-visit looks at the whole person and includes discussion on many health related topics. Creating healthy behaviors early on will play an important role into adulthood. Teens need their parents and their health care provider to help them make this transition to adulthood. You are a team! Call your doctor and schedule (you and) your teen a well visit.
Do you want help finding a doctor, health insurance, or transportation to the doctor?
Your local Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Agency (MCAH) can help. Click here to find your local MCAH Agency or call: Healthy Families Line: 800-369-2229 or the TEEN Line: 800-443-8336
Resources for Parents
A Journey from Childhood to Adult Life
Bright Futures is a national health promotion initiative dedicated to the principle that every child deserves to be healthy and that optimal health involves a trusting relationship between the health professional, the child, the family, and the community as partners in health practice.
Your Life Iowa
Your Life Iowa is a resource for youth, parents, school personnel, and all Iowans looking for help and information about bullying and youth suicide prevention.
A Parent’s Guide to Surviving the Teen Years
Kids Health provides families with perspective, advice, and comfort about a wide range of physical, emotional, and behavioral issues that affect children and teens.
Healthy Children Teen Articles
Healthy Children from the American Academy of Pediatrics provides articles pertaining to dating & sex, fitness, nutrition, driving safety, school, and substance abuse in teens and young adults.
Helping Your Teenager Make Healthy Food Choices
Kids Health features a fitness & nutrition center to help parents keep their child healthy with the right foods and exercise.
What You Can Do About Bullying
StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying.
CDC’s Parent Portal
As a parent of a teen, you are beginning to see your child become an adult. These are critical years that will affect both their current and future health. The links on this website will help you learn how to guide your teen to become a healthy and productive adult.
Ten Tasks of Adolescent Development
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Raising Teens Project aims to make the research more accessible and useful to those who work with and on behalf of parents, adolescents, and families.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Office of Adolescent Health
The Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of adolescents to enable them to become healthy, productive adults. They have resources on health topics including: reproductive health, mental health, physical health & nutrition, substance abuse, and healthy relationships.
Drugs and Your Kids
The NIDA for Teens website is a project of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Created for middle and high school students and their teachers, this website provides accurate and timely information for use in and out of the classroom.
Drug Free America
Provides parents and youth information about prevention, intervention, and treatment for drugs and alcohol.
On Guard Online
On Guard Online helps parents and teens learn why and how to be safe online.
Science of Parenting
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach helps carry Iowa State’s land-grant mission beyond campus. They provide webinars, parenting newsletters, and blog-style communication ideas, resources and strategies for effective parenting.
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