teenagers

Data acquired from health departments across the Gulf South show that among 12 to 17 year olds, Black teenagers are getting vaccinated at roughly one and a half times the rate of white teenagers.

The science is clear that teenagers need more than eight hours of sleep a night. The nation's pediatricians say school districts need to buck up and change schedules to let kids sleep later.

Children tend to become less physically active as they move into their teenage years. But less than half of those ages 12 to 15 are meeting even minimal standards for aerobic fitness, the CDC reports.

It used to be parents worried that their kids were hanging out with the wrong crowd. Now they need to worry about hanging out with the wrong crowd on Instagram. But do online influences matter?

Cigarette smoking costs you a lot more than money, a graphic new ad campaign warns teenagers. It's the Food and Drug Administration's first foray into slick messaging aimed at keeping teens from taking up cigarettes. Most long-term smokers started as teens.

Only one quarter of young teens are getting enough exercise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Organized sports often aren't enough to meet that hour a day goal. But parents can help by building more activity into family life.

Scientists agree that teenagers naturally go to bed late and sleep late, too. But high school start times are traditionally very early. Proponents of later start times say they're finally getting traction. The result, they say, will be happier kids who do better in school.