Teen Health News & Features

Don't Brand Teen Sexting as Child Porn: Experts By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, April 15, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- In many U.S. states, teenagers who send "sext" messages to each other can be prosecuted as child pornographers -- and that should end, researchers argue.Many states have recently passed laws that specifically address teen sexting -- exempting it, to varying degrees, from longstanding child pornography statutes. But in 23 states, those outdated laws still apply to teenagers who willingly send sexual messages to each other.The penalty is up to 20 years in prison and a lifetime as a

Newly released numbers from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey show more than 3.6 million teens used e-cigarettes in 2018. Those numbers include a 78% increase from 2017 in use among high schoolers and a 48% increase among middle schoolers.

The Philadelphia university reported the first case of the contagious, vaccine-preventable disease on Feb. 28.

Twenty years ago, weight loss surgery for teenagers was seen as a risky last resort. But today, many doctors say that for some, the benefits outweigh the risks.

The sale of e-cigarettes to those under 18 is illegal under federal law.

Between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of high school students who said they had ever had sex fell from 48 percent to 39.5 percent, and the percentage who said they'd had four or more sexual partners decreased from 15 percent to just under 10 percent.

Suicide is now the third leading cause of death among American adolescents, the study authors noted.

Girls are much more active on social media early in their adolescence, and the time they spend there appears to reduce their happiness and lower their sense of well-being, the researchers said.

Riding with a marijuana-impaired driver was more common than riding with an alcohol-impaired driver, researchers found.

Among teenagers and young adults diagnosed with a "self-harm" injury, the risk of suicide in the next year was nearly 27 times higher than the U.S. norm, researchers found.

This is important information because more than 5,000 Americans under age 20 are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes every year.

The odds of progressing to long-term opioid therapy can double, triple or  more, depending on the kid's diagnosis and the other drugs prescribed to treat their disorder, the researchers said.

The recommendation for universal screening is a change from the previous guidelines, published a decade ago, and is the first step in a larger strategy that should be followed when a doctor suspects a teenage patient might be depressed.

Men who started drinking in their teens are at increased risk for liver disease, Swedish researchers report.

The proportion of high school students who've ever had sex decreased to 41 percent in 2015, continuing a downward trend from 47 percent in 2005 and 53 percent in 1995, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Texting, talking on cellphones, eating, drinking -- distractions such as these are a driving hazard, and are more likely to occur among young men, new research shows.

Distractions at the wheel are major cause of needless tragedies, experts say

Study found more adolescents getting less rest because of temptations of technology

Behavior was strongly linked to greater suicide risk, UK study found

But 1 in 7 still had excess alcohol at least once in past month, study finds

By 18, more than half of adolescents were still virgins, new CDC survey reveals

Full-time students aged 18 to 22 also have higher rates of binge-drinking, survey finds

Running longer before the contact happens also spells more trouble

Researchers suspect low levels of spexin might play contributing role

Higher amounts of unhealthy fats tied to greater breast density, researchers suggest