High school's acne-splotched, gossip-buzzed cafeterias can get ugly. The scene takes an extra emotional toll on those at the bottom of the food chain. What's worse, the pain of teen popularity contests actually expands girls' waistlines.
A new Harvard University study of 4,500 girls suggests that the lower girls think of themselves on the social scale, the greater their risk for gaining weight.
Continue reading 'Low self esteem in teen girls packs on 11 pounds' >
At a time when kids should be concerned about acne and a Spice Girls comeback, global warming tops the list of teenage worries.
A recent poll of 50,000 teenagers from 18 countries found that, even though many can not name the cause of the problem, today's teens believe global warming is a serious issue. (Except in North America, where one quarter of those polled aren't sure it's a concern.) For the majority, however, global warming won teen hearts over drugs, violence, and war.
Our future still looks a bit bleak. A staggering 20 percent of teens polled don't know what causes global warming, or how to prevent it.
Continue reading 'Teenagers worry about global warming but don't know why' >
More bad news for drug warriors: another new study! This one finds that teens who smoke marijuana but not cigarettes are emotionally healthier in some ways than those who abstain entirely and than those who use both.
Research just keeps knocking drug war myths down. This week, two different studies took on some of the warriors' sacred cows-- the idea that parents whose kids are using drugs are “in denial” about it and the notion that marijuana use always has negative effects on mental health.
The first study, published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, followed 75 families in which the substance use rates of teens were known, but the teens mostly weren’t in treatment for it. 86% accurately reported their teens’ alcohol and marijuana use. 72% were aware of their children’s use of other illegal drugs.
Continue reading 'Marijuana is an antidepressant at low doses, and parents know when kids use it' >
