Q: How old do you have to be to get birth control without your parents' knowledge?

A: Every state has different regulations. According to Massachusetts law, health care professionals can rely in good faith on minors as to their ability to consent for health care around the issues of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Thus, consent of parents is not required. This is not limited by age, but rather by the treating provider's assessment of the minor's ability to consent. For example, I think all of us would doubt a nine-year-old's ability to consent to birth control, but most of us would feel that a 16-year-old who does not have severe cognitive or emotional limitations could consent. In general, then, obtaining birth control without your parents' knowledge is more of an issue of how mature and capable you are to make decisions around contraception than of reaching a certain age.

Q: How can I lose weight and build muscle?

A: First, it is important to know if it is a healthy decision to try to lose weight. Not everyone who wants to lose weight should lose weight. Talk to your health care professional about this issue. If you do need to lose weight, it is important to include cardiorespiratory exercise, weight training and healthy eating in moderation in your weight-loss program. Running, biking and swimming are examples of cardiorespiratory exercises. Check with your health care professional before starting. Try to work up to 30 minutes of activity four to five times per week. It is very important that you continue to eat regular meals and not fast, restrict, go on fad diets or use diet pills or supplements. Eating small amounts frequently (three meals and two or three snacks per day) keeps your metabolism stimulated and will help you lose weight while also helping you feel energetic and meet your nutritional needs. To lose weight and keep it off, you need to make lifestyle changes you can continue indefinitely. Expect to lose weight very gradually. This is a healthy approach to weight loss and will help your body adjust to the changes and accept them as the "new you." Rapid weight loss can be dangerous and usually can't be maintained.

Lydia A. Shrier, MD, MPH

Adolescent Medicine Specialist

Children's Hospital Boston

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

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