Katherine Schwarzenegger felt something was terribly wrong last summer, when she overheard her young cousins chatting about their bodies.

“They’re 8 years old and were talking about how they don’t want to be fat and how they want to be ‘sexy,’” says the 20-year-old daughter of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist Maria Shriver.

It wasn’t the first time Katherine had heard the girls and other young friends discuss body-image issues. She, herself, had struggled to maintain her self-esteem under media and public scrutiny.

Now a junior at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, Katherine eventually tackled her body-image issues and developed self-confidence—and she shares her hard-earned wisdom in a new book, Rock What You’ve Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty from Someone Who’s Been There and Back.

Actress/singer Selena Gomez has teamed with Kmart to launch an eco-friendly clothing line in July, just in time for back-to-school shopping. 

Aimed at tweens, her Dream Out Loud collection—featuring organic cotton and recycled materials—will include value-priced junior sportswear, handbags, belts, scarves, hats, hair accessories and socks/hosiery. Footwear will join the line in October. 

Gomez, who stars in the Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place, “is a positive role model for teens, and her fans all over the world look to her for style inspiration,” says Kmart spokesman John Goodman. “We are delighted to offer our customers the opportunity to emulate her style with affordable apparel and footwear options.” 

Gomez will star in the feature film Ramona and Beezus (opening July 23), based on Beverly Cleary’s beloved series of children’s books. Her first CD, Kiss & Tell, just went gold. 

“I am proud to be able to join forces with Kmart to release my own fashion collection,” Gomez says. “This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, and I feel privileged to be able to give the consumer great product at a great value.” 

Photo: Disney Channel/Bob D’Amico

Today is Earth Day, and teens who want to make a difference in the fight against climate change now have a place to share their pledges, actions and ideas.

Inconvenient Youth, the Alliance for Climate Protection’s new teen education initiative, launches today. The program will also enable five teens to participate in upcoming in-person training with Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore.

 “Inconvenient Youth is built on the belief that teens can help lead efforts to solve the climate crisis,” Gore says. “It will give this generation—which has a unique stake in this issue—a chance to organize and exchange ideas with other young people who want to do their part to address the climate crisis. Perhaps most importantly, this initiative was inspired by youth and shaped by youth, with their unique viewpoint guiding it forward.”

“It’s not a website; it’s a community,” explains program manager Sam Davidson. “We are building a community—a place where people engage, encourage and empower one another to take action. We’re not broadcasting ‘green tips’ from on high; we’re creating a space where teens can share their ideas and their solutions.”

Interested teens can visit the organization’s website from now until May 15 and apply for the opportunity to attend a Gore-led training session in June.

Students will go through a committee review process. Those selected will become official presenters who can deliver a new slide show to their local communities based on Gore’s latest book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.

“The ultimate goal of Inconvenient Youth, at least for me, is to provide ideas and to consciously act on those ideas, while pursuing efforts that make obstacles entirely irrelevant,” says Shilpi Misra, a member of the teen advisory board.

Between 2003 and 2006, almost 40% of Mexican-American adolescents (12 to 19) were overweight or likely to become so, according to researchers at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

They found that teens who reduced their daily sugar intake by 47 grams (equal to one can of soda), while increasing their daily fiber intake by 5 grams (equal to one-half cup of beans), lowered their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Emily Ventura, MPH, and her colleagues in the Department of Preventive Medicine published their results in the April edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Teens who decreased their sugar intake secreted 33% less insulin, while those who increased their fiber intake lost 10% of fat around vital organs. Insulin resistance and obesity are two major risk factors for diabetes.

“Our results suggest that intensive interventions may not be necessary to achieve modifications in sugar and fiber intake,” the authors write. “Accordingly, nutritional guidance given in the primary-care or community setting may be sufficient to promote the suggested dietary changes in some individuals. In addition, policies that promote reduced intake of added sugar and increased intake of fiber could be effective public-health strategies for the prevention of type 2 diabetes in this high-risk population.”

For Your Organic Bookshelf: “I’m, Like, So Fat!”: Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices About Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World

“Fruit and vegetable intake is important for the prevention of future chronic disease,” says lead investigator and registered dietitian Nicole Larson, MPH. “So it’s important to know whether intakes of teens are approaching national objectives for fruit and vegetable consumption.”

Larson and colleagues from the University of Minnesota undertook the study to examine whether teens in the state were increasing their intake of fruits and vegetables as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2010 objectives and Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The study, part of a larger initiative on factors influencing adolescents’ eating habits, gathered information about fruit and vegetable intake among 944 boys and 1,161 girls in 1999 and again in 2004. The study appears in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

During the transition from middle school or junior high to high school, teens decreased their intake of fruits and vegetables by almost 1 serving per day, Larson and colleagues found—from roughly 4 servings to 3 servings for girls and roughly 2.5 to fewer than 2 servings for boys. They also found that from high school to early adulthood, the teens decreased their consumption by almost the same amount.

The researchers also compared consumption of fruits and vegetables between one group of middle adolescents in 1999 and another in 2004. They found that mid-adolescent girls in 2004 consumed almost one serving per day less than girls the same age in 1999. Mid-adolescent boys were also eating about a half serving less of fruits and vegetables in 2004 than in 1999.

“This is giving us the message that we need new and enhanced efforts to increase fruit and vegetable intake that we haven’t been doing in the past,” Larson says.

“I was surprised by the magnitude of the reduction in fruit and vegetable consumption,” says Karen Glanz, PhD, a professor and research scholar at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, who is not associated with the study. “I wasn’t surprised that there would be a reduction because of the lifestyle of today’s teens.”

Dr. Glanz cites the increase over the last 10 to 15 years in the amount, variety and availability of processed and fast food as a major cause of the trend toward less healthful food choices among adolescents.

While both Larson and Dr. Glanz say there’s little research investigating exactly why adolescents might be choosing to eat fewer fruits and vegetables, they both agree that just educating teens about healthful food choices is not enough.

“Teaching adolescents that fruits and vegetables are healthy isn’t going to help. They already know that,” Dr. Glanz says.

“We need to address things going on in the environment, in the community or at home to help adolescents increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables,” Larson adds.

Environmental interventions could include increasing the availability and palatability of fruit and vegetables at school, in restaurants and at home, as well as decreasing the availability of less healthful, highly palatable foods. And research shows that more frequent family meals can help adolescents eat more healthfully.

“Parental and family attitudes are very important,” Larson says.

Note: Because you’re dedicated to organic living, OrganicAuthority.com recommends buying certified organic fruits and vegetables to maximize flavor, while minimizing your risk of exposure to pesticides, chemicals and preservatives.