Nearly two-thirds of teen boys and young men engage with masculinity influencers online. Some channels or podcasts promote healthy views of masculinity, but many “manosphere” figures push impressionable teens toward unrealistic body standards and other extreme ideas. Content on “looksmaxxing,” or trying to maximize one’s attractiveness, can push boys into risky behaviors. Some develop body image issues, eating disorders, or muscle dysphoria, an obsession with bulking up. These can lead to extreme workout routines or taking unregulated supplements, hormones, or anabolic steroids, which raise the risk of heart attack, stroke, organ damage, and other serious conditions. Other teens opt for cosmetic surgery to get a more chiseled jawline or abs. Doctors warn teens to be careful of the line between self-care and self-harm. One expert on the “manosphere,” Dr. Jason Nagata, warns boys to think critically about what they find online, “where popularity can be mistaken for expertise.” Consider if influencers are earning money from products they endorse and if there is real evidence to support their claims.

Two new studies show how poor habits can impact your mental well-being. One analysis of teens around the world showed that drinking sugary beverages, like sodas and energy drinks, was associated with a 34 percent increase in symptoms of anxiety. Another study looked at excessive screen time among preteens and young teens. Spending too much time using social media or playing video games was linked to symptoms of depression, attention issues, and behavior problems. Your teen years are the perfect time to practice healthy habits that will serve you for life. You can take small steps every day to benefit your physical and mental health, from eating well and limiting screen time to exercising and practicing mindfulness.

Your brain is rapidly developing during your childhood and teen years. To understand how, researchers tracked more than 11,000 children and teens for about seven years in the largest long-term study of the brain development of American youth. They found a key point: Marijuana slows brain development in teens, negatively impacting memory, attention, language, and processing speed. According to the lead researcher, “These differences may seem small at first, but they can add up in ways that affect learning, memory, and everyday functioning.”

 

A new study of gamers in their late teens and early 20s has revealed that their health can suffer depending on how much time they spend gaming. Study participants who spent more than 10 hours per week gaming were more likely to be obese, have poor diets, and get poor quality sleep. Low to moderate levels of gaming (less than 10 hours a week) generally did have a negative impact on teens’ health. Since the habits you establish in your teen and early adult years can stick with you into adulthood, experts suggest focusing on healthy behaviors: taking breaks while gaming, avoiding gaming late at night, eating healthy snacks and balanced meals, and making sure to leave time for physical activity and other hobbies. The research likely applies to a wide range of teens—according to Pew Research, 85 percent of teens play video games, and 41 percent play every day.

Seventh-grade student Aisha Chavda is getting national attention for starting an anti-bullying initiative. After seeing how others her age faced harassment online, she created an acronym called “BRIGHT” to help teens being cyberbullied:

• • Block: Block the bully online
• • Report: Report the bully to the app or site
• • Ignore: Don’t respond; distract yourself with other activities
• • Get an adult: Go to a trusted adult for advice
• • Hotline: If you have thoughts of self-harm or suicide, connect with a hotline like stopbullying.gov
• • Tech break: Get outside or away from devices for a while

For her efforts, Chavda won the Illinois State Civics Bee, a competition that encourages students to identify problems in their communities and find solutions.

A jury has ruled that Meta (owner of Instagram) and Google (owner of YouTube) must pay $6 million for designing and operating products that they knew could harm the mental health of children and teens. The suit was brought by a woman named Kaley, now age 20, who said she started using Instagram at age 9 and YouTube at age 6. She said she soon became addicted, and her constant use of social media eventually led to body dysmorphia, depression, and suicidal thoughts. The jury in the trial agreed that the tech companies were negligent, or careless, and that they should have warned users about the risks instead of prioritizing their own profits. Experts say the case could open the door to further judgments against social media companies and potentially force them to change how they handle underage users.

A new study has examined how health topics are covered on social media like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Researchers found TikTok was a common source of misinformation. Of the posts examined, 52 percent of those about ADHD and 41 percent of those about autism were found to be inaccurate. Services with stronger content moderation policies had less misinformation. Teens may turn to social media to understand symptoms of various disorders or find others going through similar experiences, but researchers warn young people should always be on the lookout for low-quality information. It is best to get medical and mental health advice from a doctor or professional source.

Sports medicine experts are sounding the alarm over increased instances of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in teenage girl athletes. Girls are three to six times more likely than boys to suffer these major knee injuries, and over a fifteen-year period in a dozen high-school sports ACL injuries among girls rose by 32 percent—more than twice the rate for teen boys. Improved diagnosis of ACL injuries partly explains the spike in cases, and girls’ increased participation in sports is one factor in the disparity. But an overemphasis on athletic competition and a push to specialize in one sport early may be the biggest problems.

Fortunately, knee-focused training programs and increased awareness of the risks to girls can help limit the damage. The confidence to set boundaries helps, too. Participating in sports is fun and beneficial in many ways, but experts warn that year-round play makes the chance of hurting yourself much more likely. The lure of the pitch or field can be hard to resist, but taking a break every once in a while may be the difference between continuing to play or being sidelined for months with a recuperating knee.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson in March 2021, but requested that it be voluntarily withdrawn just a month later because of its link to a rare, serious blood-clotting disorder. Now, researchers in Australia have discovered the cause of the condition.

Dr. Jing Jing Wang and Professor Tom Gordon, both of Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, found that the disorder—called vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VTT)—affects people who are genetically prone to a reaction to adenovirus. Adenovirus was the virus used to carry and stimulate antibodies to the coronavirus in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (Some people in Europe who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine experienced the same reaction.) Dr. Wang notes that the discovery provides valuable information for vaccine developers. “By modifying or removing this specific adenovirus protein, future vaccines can avoid this extremely rare reaction while continuing to provide strong protection against disease.”

In January of this year, the Mattel toy company introduced an autistic Barbie to its lineup of popular fashion dolls. The company partnered with the nonprofit disability rights organization Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), which works to empower the autistic community, to develop the doll. The process took over eighteen months to complete.

The autistic Barbie comes with a fidget spinner, noise-canceling headphones, and a computer tablet showing symbol-based augmentative and alternative communication apps. She joins Mattel’s other Barbie figures designed to champion diversity, including versions with Down syndrome, blindness, vitiligo, prosthetic limbs, and more.

Balancing school and athletics can be stressful, especially when you have work due at the same time that you’re preparing for an important competetion. Multiply that feeling a dozen times over and you might understand how twenty-two-year-old Canadian figure skater Maddie Schizas felt when she realized she owed her McMaster University sociology professor a writing assignment—the day before she performed in the Winter Olympics’ women’s short program.

Fortunately, Maddie understands that openness and good communication are essential skills for time management. She sent her professor an email from Milan, Italy, explaining that she’d misread the assignment due date and requesting an extension. The teacher gave her extra time to finish the paper, and was impressed that Maddie didn’t try to use her position as leverage. “I respect the fact that she wasn’t using that as a reason to get special treatment or accommodations,” he said. He even posted a photo of himself watching her performance on Instagram. Maddie finished sixth in the program, helping Canada to finish fifth overall.

While fewer than 2 percent of all lung cancer cases are found in young people, the disease is still a concern for those under fifty years old, especially smokers and people regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. Fortunately, two new clinical trials show promise for anyone diagnosed with or at risk of the disease.

A drug called Alveltamig, which began trials in October 2025 at Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center, binds cancer cells to T cells (white blood cells that fight pathogens and disease), potentially adding years of life to patients with small cell lung cancer. And LungVax, a preventative vaccine designed to teach people’s immune systems to recognize the earliest changes to cells that can develop into tumors, will start a trial this summer at the University of Oxford and University College London in the UK.

The American Cancer Society reports that lung cancer accounted for about one in five of all cancer deaths in the U.S. last year. It’s the most frequently diagnosed form of cancer, but also the most preventable one.