Contraception for primary care providers.

The US teen birth rate remains the highest of industrialized nations. Therefore, sexual safety, including provision of contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), should be a component of adolescent skill development. Adolescents need comprehensive sex education and access to reproductive health services, including contraception.

The missing "Bratz" doll: a case of vaginal foreign body.

Young female patients with gynecologic complaints, including vaginal discharge, commonly seek care in the emergency department. Prepubertal vaginal discharges have various potential etiologies including nonspecific vulvovaginitis, infections, inflammatory or dermatologic processes, precocious puberty, malignancy, anatomical anomaly, trauma, sexual abuse, and foreign body. We present the case of a 4-year-old girl with vaginal odor and discharge secondary to a foreign body.

The obese adolescent.

Childhood obesity is one of the formidable challenges that healthcare providers face. Early recognition and implementation of preventive strategies is crucial in combating this problem. Inculcation of a healthy lifestyle in our youth by encouraging physical activity, decreasing sedentary pastimes, and making healthy food choices is critical right from the start, before poor habits become ingrained.