8 million teens in world’s wealthiest countries functionally illiterate: UNICEF

8 million teens in world’s wealthiest countries functionally illiterate: UNICEF

Comparing data from 2018 and 2022, UNICEF found that the pandemic worsened existing trends: children are underperforming in school, more likely to be overweight or obese, and generally less satisfied with their lives. This data sets a “worrying benchmark for children’s wellbeing,” said Bo Viktur Nylund, Director of UNICEF’s research office, Innocenti. UNICEF ranked the […]

Is childhood obesity a psychological disorder?

Is childhood obesity a psychological disorder?

A team of researchers, including senior investigator, Bradley Peterson, MD, director of the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, used fMRI to investigate neural responses to food cues in overweight compared with lean adolescents. The team observed that food stimuli activated regions of the brain associated with reward and emotion in […]

Smartphone tracking shows fear affects where youth spend time

Smartphone tracking shows fear affects where youth spend time

Youth spend less time in their neighborhoods if area residents have a high fear of crime, according to a new study that used smartphones to track kids’ whereabouts. Researchers found that adolescents aged 11 to 17 spent over an hour less each day on average in their neighborhoods if residents there were very fearful, compared […]