DR. WALLACE: I was thinking about donating blood. Is it dangerous? How do I get my blood back? Who gets to use my blood? I've spoken to a lot of my friends who recently suggested we all help out our fellow citizens by donating blood. — Potential New Blood Donor, via email

POTENTIAL NEW BLOOD DONOR: Now is definitely a great time to donate blood! It's not dangerous; your body will naturally produce more blood to replace what you donated, and some very thankful people will benefit from your gift.

You can, of course, contact one of the large national organizations to get more information about becoming a donor. But please don't forget to consider where you make your donation. There are many smaller regional and local organizations that would greatly appreciate your donation, which will then help others right in your own area.

A reader named Carol at the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks brought this important point to my attention recently. Please read her powerful message, and keep it in mind when you select the venue where you'll be making your own donation. Here is Carol's sage advice:

DR. WALLACE: Though I am well past 20 and have no children, I still enjoy reading your column. The advice you provide to young people is extremely valuable. I do have one bone to pick with you, concerning aligning yourself with only the Red Cross when it comes to blood donations. I realize that a lot of people think only of the Red Cross for this service, but there is an organization of independent community blood centers that actually contribute a larger percentage of all of the blood provided to hospitals across America. This organization is called America's Blood Centers, or ABC.

Community blood centers support their local areas with the blood, platelets and plasma needed at their local hospitals. Donations made at these centers stay in the local community. I work for one of those centers. In southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas, we are the exclusive provider of blood and blood products to our more than 40 hospitals and several air ambulance services. To put it plainly, if the people in our community donate to the Red Cross, no patients in our hospitals benefit from that donation, and our inventory suffers. There are places in the country where a community blood center is not available. By all means, give to the Red Cross if a community blood center does not exist. But if a community blood center is available, that is where the support should go.

Our center collects COVID-19 convalescent plasma, or CCP; the Red Cross in our area does not. You might want to know that the method for donating CCP is not the same as donating whole blood. It is an apheresis product, and the process takes longer. You also must have the veins to support the back flow.

I hope you will consider this and not leave local centers out going forward!

IT'S NO LONGER BABY FAT

DR. WALLACE: I'm a fairly short 14-year-old girl, and I already weigh 148 pounds! I think that I'm too fat and should maybe go on a diet, but my mom says that I'm too young to diet and I will simply lose my "baby fat" as I grow older. Both my mother and father are quite a bit overweight, as they don't eat too many healthy meals, and they absolutely eat too much.

I'm afraid if I don't start dieting pretty soon, I'll get really, really big, and my social life will be ruined before it ever has a chance to get started. — Concerned Girl, via email

CONCERNED GIRL: If you feel that you have been following an unhealthy diet, then the time has come to change your eating habits and focus on more nutritious foods. If you continue along with your parents' unhealthy eating patterns, you will probably wind up with a body shape similar to that of your mother or father.

It's imperative that your parents have you get a complete physical from your family doctor and then ask for a recommendation to see a nutritionist who will offer a healthy and delicious eating plan. It would be wise for Mom and Dad to join in and do the same, if possible.

I commend you for being so aware of and interested in your health at such a young age. This diligence and attention to detail will serve you well throughout your lifetime. Do follow up with a healthy eating plan, and don't forget that regular exercise is another big factor of a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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