School Health News

Senators questioned Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, about proposed NIH cuts to biomedical research, the safety of vaccines, and government transparency during his nomination hearing Wednesday to be the next director of the NIH.

Teens spent an average of 1.5 hours on their smartphones during school hours, and one-quarter of them spent more than 2 hours using their phones at school, according to findings published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Children with emotional or cognitive disabilities were more likely to report being suspended or expelled from school compared with children with physical disabilities or no disabilities, according to findings in Academic Pediatrics.

More than one in 10 children worldwide reported experiencing sexual violence, according to a large meta-analysis published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Routine childhood immunizations have prevented 1.1 million deaths in the United States since the CDC’s Vaccines for Children program launched in 1994, according to researchers.

Experts published a swath of new research this year about the youth mental health crisis in the United States, which U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, has called an emergency.

The AAP released updated recommendations for preventing injuries and fostering a safe environment in cheer, a sport that an estimated 3.5 million youth participate in in the United States.

Only one in five youth aged 6 to 17 years is meeting national physical activity recommendations, and that number has not increased in the last decade, according to the Physical Activity Alliance’s 2024 United States Report Card.

Tobacco use has decreased among middle and high school students in the United States, yet an estimated 2.25 million youth still actively used tobacco products in 2024, according to a study by CDC and FDA researchers.