Charles J. Wibbelsman, M.D.

Teen Girls, Growing and Changing

Adolescence can be tough enough to get through without questions of sex, sexuality, and sexual identity. But adolescents are humans, too — no matter how alien they may seem to their parents at times. Openly addressing the all-too-human questions of sexual development, sexual desire, and the nature of the adolescent’s developing sexual identity are critical. Sharing factual information with and giving good moral guidance to your teenager is a vitally important part of helping your teen understand herself or himself. It can help your child avoid devastating, and possibly life-threatening, errors in judgment.

“Above all, it is critical that parents be truthful, honest, and available to their children,” says Charles R. Wibbelsman, M.D., FAAP, Chief of Adolescent Medicine at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Adolescence.

Dr Wibbelsman comes on the show to discuss how parents can help their teenage girls understand the changes that are taking place in their bodies.

Charles J. Wibbelsman, MD, is the Chief of Adolescent Medicine for Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, California. Dr. Wibbelsman has been with The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. for 30 years and serves as Chair of the Chiefs of Adolescent Medicine for Kaiser Permanente, Northern California. He is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco, School of Medicine. Prior to his joining The Permanente Medical Group, Dr. Wibbelsman was the Chief of Venereal Disease Control for the City and County of San Francisco. As an author for books for adolescents and their parents, he has authored The Teenage Body Book, Growing and Changing, Life Happens, and Crisis Proof Your Teenager. Dr. Wibbelsman recently was a member of The Committee on Adolescence of The American Academy of Pediatrics and is now President Elect of Chapter 1, District IX of the American Academy of Pediatrics and in 2009 served as President of The San Francisco Medical Society.

Melanie Cole, M.S.

2 / 17 / 2010