Autism ranks among the top ten health problems for young people under 20.

A new study published recently in The Lancet Psychiatry says that nearly 62 million people in 2021 had autism spectru...

Teenagers who land in an ER with a mental health crisis can be effectively helped by a community-based program.

New research shows that troubled teens placed in such a program were significantly less likely to return to the ER or require inpatient psychiatric care due to a follow-up crisis.

The program did not reduce risk of a subsequent suicide attempt, but did reduce the risk of b...

Rates of vaping, drug and alcohol use among American teens plummeted during the pandemic and have remained at relatively low levels ever since, new government statistics show.

“This trend in the reduction of substance use among teenagers is unprecedented,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, who directs th...

High blood pressure is a rare health issue among teens, but U.S. case numbers are creeping upwards.

Now, research published recently in the Journal of the American Heart Association, shows that healthy...

Hillary Fisher thinks receiving weight-loss surgery as a teenager put her on the path to a better life.

Fisher is one of 260 teens who participated in a long-term study which recently concluded that weight-loss surgery can bring lasting health benefits for obese teenagers.

“It changed my life,” Fisher, now 31, said in a news release. “The improved health and self-e...

Half of young Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 spend at least four hours each day on their smartphones, computers or televisions, a new survey shows.

"As technology has become more integrated into teenagers’ lives, the time spent in front of screens has continued to rise in the United States," noted a team of researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventio...

Weed use among U.S. teenagers fell dramatically over the past decade, a new study shows.

By 2021, only about 16% of teens said they were currently using marijuana, down from 23% in 2011, researchers found.

All grades experienced a notable decline in current weed use, particularly among ninth graders, researchers said.

Further, the percentage of kids who tried weed for the firs...

An overwhelming majority of teens and young adults are worried about how climate change will affect their future, a new survey has found.

About 85% of 16- to 25-year-olds are worried about the impact of climate change on people and the planet, according to the survey of nearly 16,000 people from all 50 states.

That includes nearly all who identify as Democrats (96%), as well as over...

Teenagers are increasingly turning to protein-packed bars, shakes and powders to help them add muscle to their frames, a new study shows.

Two in five parents say their teen consumed protein supplements in the past year, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.

Teen boys more commonly turned to protei...

Is vaping finally losing its coolness for American teens?

The latest tally of federal data finds that 550,000 school kids, mostly high schoolers, quit using e-cigarettes in 2024.

Vaping rates fell from 10% of high school students in 2023 to 7.8% this year, "reachi...

As with any new drug, parents and doctors may worry that the use of GLP-1 weight-loss meds by children and teens might raise psychiatric risks, including the risk for suicide and suicidal thoughts.

But a new study involving more than 54,000 U.S. adolescents found no such link.

In fact, obese kids who used the drugs had a 33% decline in their risk for thoughts of suicide and suicide...

Friendships forged during a person’s turbulent teenage years lay the essential foundation for their happiness later in life, a new study suggests.

Being broadly accepted by peers in early adolescence and forming close connections as an older teen both predict how ...

Teens from minority groups seeking treatment at pediatric trauma centers are more likely than their white counterparts to be tested for drugs and alcohol.

That's the takeaway from a new study led by researchers at UCLA and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. 

"While screening can positively affect patients if it is followed by counseling and treatment, it can also lead to negative...

If a woman is already in a "prediabetic" state in her teen or college years, her odds for a serious complication of pregnancy later in life rises, new research shows.

Ignoring prediabetes in teenagers "may represent a missed opportunity to avert pregnancy-related complications" later, said study lead author Katharine McCarthy

New research uncovers a possible reason why teenaged girls struggled so mightily with their mental health during the pandemic: Scans showed their brains aged far faster than expected during that stressful time, even faster than the brains of their male peers.

In the study, published Monday in the