As they prepare a major study to test the idea, UK scientists have said that starting school at 10:00 could have huge benefits for teenagers. Research suggests that society pays too little attention to our “body clock” – and adolescents in particular have a late-running biological rhythm. This means insisting on an early start can […]
Category: Teenagers
Feds Spent $800,000 Studying Dating Prospects for Obese Teenage Girls
It isn’t much of a secret that overweight girls tend to have harder times getting dates to the prom, much less boyfriends. But federal officials apparently wanted scientific proof, so they spent $800,000 studying obese teenage romances. Last year, the National Institutes of Health, the government’s health research arm, gave nearly a half-million in taxpayer […]
Use of Morning-After Pill Soars Among Teens
Use of the morning-after pill has risen sharply among teenage girls over the last decade, as the teen pregnancy rate has steadily fallen. Twenty-two percent of teenage girls took the morning-after pill in 2013, compared with 8 percent in 2002, according to a report on teen sex released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control […]
Teenage Obesity Increased During First Two Years of First Lady’s ‘Let’s Move’ Program
In the first two years since First Lady Michelle Obama launched her ‘Let’s Move’ campaign to fight childhood obesity in 2010, teenage obesity rates increased, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). From 2009-2010, 18.4 percent of children ages 12-19 were classified as obese, according to the CDC. Since then, from […]
Obama to Unmarried Teen Moms: You May Be Raising ‘Next President’
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said Wednesday that President Barack Obama told a group of young single mothers during a trip to Minnesota several months ago that their children could be the next president of the United States. After all the press left, “the president talked to them about how, ‘You know what, my mother was […]
High School Football Too Dangerous? Three Players Died in the Last Week
A player for a New York high school football team is the third teen to die on the football field in just the last week. 16-year-old Tom Cutinella, a guard/linebacker for Shoreham-Wading River High School’s football team, died of a head injury after a collision with another player in a game on Wednesday, October 1. […]
Pediatricians Urge IUDs or Implants for Teen Girls
Teen girls who have sex should use IUDs or hormonal implants — long-acting birth control methods that are effective, safe and easy to use, the nation’s most influential pediatricians’ group recommends. In an updated policy, the American Academy of Pediatrics says condoms also should be used every time teens have sex, to provide protection against […]
Let Them Sleep In: Docs Want Later School Times for Teens
Your teenager wants to sleep later and now his doctor agrees. Middle and high school students shouldn’t have to start school until 8:30 in the morning or later, the American Academy of Pediatrics says. “The research is clear that adolescents who get enough sleep have a reduced risk of being overweight or suffering depression, are […]
Teen Pot Use Linked to Disability Later in Life
A long-term study of Swedish men finds that those who smoked marijuana at age 18, especially the heaviest users, were more likely to end up on the nation’s disability rolls by age 59. It’s unclear whether the pot use in adolescence may have led to more severe substance abuse or was an early sign of […]
‘Sexting’ is New Courtship’, Parents Are Told
‘Sexting’ is the new form of courtship among teenagers, a report claims as it urges parents to stop panicking over the growing use of technology for flirting. Nearly three quarters of 15 to 18-year-olds have sent sexually explicit text messages while half have sent naked or semi-naked photos and videos of themselves, the research for […]
FDA Proposes First E-Cigarette Rules, Including Banning Sales to Minors
The federal government wants to ban sales of electronic cigarettes to minors and require approval for new products and health warning labels under regulations being proposed by the Food and Drug Administration. While the proposal being issued Thursday won’t immediately mean changes for the popular devices, the move is aimed at eventually taming the fast-growing […]