Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Fatal Drug ODs Surging Among Young Americans

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

The cost of America's opioid epidemic just keeps rising, with new research showing that overdose deaths among teens and young adults are soaring.

The death rate from drug overdoses rose from eight in every 100,000 people aged 15 to 24 in 2006 to nearly 10 per 100,000 in 2015, researchers found.

"Drug poisoning deaths affect families, communities and society at large," said lead researcher Bina Ali, an associate research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, in Beltsville, Md.

Among those aged 15 to 24, death rates from prescription painkillers and opioids including heroin increased nearly 5% on average each year from 2006 to 2015, but jumped by more than 15% each year from 2013 to 2015, Ali noted.

This increase reflects the ease with which teens and young adults can get prescription opioids and illegal drugs like heroin and fentanyl. Once hooked on prescription drugs like Vicodin or OxyContin, it's a small step to move on to illicit drugs as prescription opioids become harder to get, the study authors explained.

When young people switch to heroin, which is often laced with other dangerously powerful drugs such as the synthetic opioid fentanyl, the odds of an unintentional overdose rise sharply. And because these drug combinations are so potent, they increase the risk of dying.

"The findings of this study are heartbreaking, yet not surprising," said Lindsey Vuolo, director of health law and policy at the Center on Addiction, in New York City.

"The opioid crisis has claimed the lives of too many young people, and we need to be doing much more to protect adolescents and young adults from a disease that is preventable and treatable," Vuolo said.

For the study, Ali and her colleagues analyzed mortality data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics from 2006 through 2015.

The findings showed that drug-related death rates were higher for whites (nearly 12 for every 100,000) and for American Indian/Alaska Natives (10 per 100,000), compared with blacks (three per 100,000), Asian/Pacific Islanders (two per 100,000) and Hispanics (four per 100,000).

Overdose death rates also varied by state. For example, the rate in West Virginia was about five times higher than the rate in Nebraska (15 versus three per 100,000 people).

The largest increase in death rates was in New York, which saw increases of 9% a year. Death rates in Ohio, Massachusetts and New Jersey were also in this range, according to the report.

The report was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/bone-and-joint-information-4/opioids-990/fatal-drug-ods-surging-among-young-americans-745497.html

What's Hot? 04/26/19

Trending Today on Twitter - 4/26/19
1. #Cheif
2. #AvengersEndame
3. #FridayMotivation
4. #PowerTrip
5. #FridayThoughts
6. MeOutNow
7. Google Thanos
8. John Barron
9. North Korea for Otto Warmbier
10. Senior Bowl
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 4/26/19
1. Haskins
2. Paul Rudd
3. Joe Biden
4. Daniel Jones
5. Taylor Swift
6. Bruins
7. Prince William
8. Kate Middleton
9. Steelers
10. Clelin Ferrell
Source: Google

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 4/26/19
1. ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco) - Taylor Swift
2. Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Lil Nas X
3. God's Country - Blake Shelton
4. Jenny of Oldstones (Game of Thrones) - Florence + The Machine
5. Shallow - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
6. Sweet but Psycho - Ava Max
7. Sucker - Jonas Brothers
8. Old Town Road - Lil Nas X
9. Sunflower - Post Malone & Swae Lee
10. Truth Hurts - Lizzo
Source: iTunes

Top 10 TV (Broadcast) Shows - Week Ending 4/21/19
1. NCIS
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. FBI
4. 60 Minutes
5. Survivor
6. The Voice - Mon
7. The Voice - Tue
8. American Idol - Sun
9. American Idol - Mon
10. Motown 60: A Grammy Celebration
Source: Nielsen Co.

Trending Today on YouTube - 4/26/19
1. Taylor Swift - ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)
2. Fortnite X Avengers: Endgame Trailer
3. Avengers: Endgame Cast Answer 50 of the Most Googled Marvel Questions
4. Kyle Lowry Loses It When Raptors Trade DeMar
5. Goodbye Samsung Galaxy Fold...
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
1. The Curse of La Llorona
2. Shazam!
3. Breakthrough
4. Captain Marvel
5. Little
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Many Teens Don't Know They Are Vaping Nicotine

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

As e-cigarette use soars in high schools across America, new research shows many people don't understand the amount of addictive nicotine they're inhaling with every puff.

In a new survey, many teens said they regularly used e-cigarettes, but swore they only vaped nicotine-free products.

However, urine tests for a "marker" of nicotine use came up positive 40% of the time in this same group of vapers, the researchers reported.

"Many of our participants were unaware of the nicotine content of the e-cigarette products they were using," concluded a team led by Dr. Rachel Boykan, a pediatrics researcher at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y.

That could mean even more lifelong nicotine addictions arising in the young, including many who already believe vaping to be "harmless" compared to traditional smoking, experts said.

Patricia Folan directs the Center for Tobacco Control at Northwell Health in Great Neck, N.Y. She said, "Other studies have revealed that one of the main reasons adolescents use e-cigarettes is that they perceive them to be less harmful than combustible cigarettes -- without full knowledge of their actual contents."

But the new study "shows that many of the participating youth were unaware of the nicotine content in their vaping devices," Folan said.

The study findings were published online in the journal Pediatrics.

As Boykan's group noted, about one in five high school students now say they've used an e-cigarette at least once over the past month, and in just the 12 months between 2017 and 2018, teen vaping rates soared 78%.

The Stony Brook team first had 517 people, aged 12 to 21, complete questionnaires about their use of e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes and marijuana. The investigators then compared those survey results against the results of urine tests that looked for a chemical called cotinine.

Cotinine is a well-known "marker" for the presence of nicotine in a person's body.

Overall, the survey participants were largely honest about their use of tobacco, e-cigarettes and marijuana: Only about 2% who said they didn't use those substances later were found to have evidence of tobacco, nicotine or pot in their urine samples.

The big discrepancy came among young vapers, Boykan's team found.

In this subgroup, about four of every 10 people who said they vaped non-nicotine products only were found to have markers for nicotine in their urine.

In many cases, this lack of awareness occurred with use of Juul vaping pods, which actually "have the highest nicotine concentrations to date," the researchers reported.

"This study demonstrates the need for more regulation regarding e-cigarettes, including labeling of ingredients and health warnings," she said. Better education about what's in a vaping product "may help teens make more educated decisions," Folan added.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/electronic-cigarettes-970/many-teens-don-t-know-they-are-vaping-nicotine-745264.html

U.S. Teens Aren't Optimistic About Their Future Finances

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on USA Today.

America's teenagers have a lot on their minds. They worry about school, about fitting in, about guns, about the environment, about just figuring out who they really are. But given that for the most part, mom and dad are still paying the bills, you might be surprised at how many of them are already worrying about money and their financial futures.

According to a new survey from Junior Achievement and Citizen's Bank, 45% of teens say they're worried they won't be able to afford to live on their own when they reach adulthood, while 47% are worried about paying for college. The study also showed that 40% worry about finding a fulfilling, well-paying job, and 33% are concerned that they don't know enough about how to manage money.

"These survey findings show a disconcerting lack of confidence among teens when it comes to achieving financial goals," said Jack Kosakowski, CEO of Junior Achievement USA, in a press release. "With a strong economy, you would think teens would be more optimistic. It just demonstrates the importance of working with young people to help them better understand financial concepts and gain confidence in their ability to manage their financial futures."

Considering the historically low unemployment rate in the U.S. today, there's a fair amount of pessimism baked into the fact that 62% of those surveyed listed just getting a full-time job as one of their top financial goals for the future – making it the most common response. A similar percentage of teenagers (59%) said that graduating from a four-year school was a top goal. And 53% want to reach a level of financial independence such that they're no longer relying on monetary help from their parents. But 37% said they don't expect to hit that last milestone before they are 30.

In the slightly longer term, 74% of teenagers believe they'll own a car by the time they are 30, but only 60% expect to own a home at that age. In addition, 44% of those surveyed expect to be saving for retirement by the time they hit 30, while 43% expect to have their student loans paid off.

Source: USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/04/19/us-teens-arent-optimistic-about-their-future-finances/39360939/

What's Hot? 04/19/19

Trending Today on Twitter - 4/19/19
1. #GoodFriday
2. Steve Yzerman
3. #FridayFeeling
4. #LGRW
5. Stevie Y
6. #PowerTrip
7. #RedWings
8. Lyra McKee
9. Crazy Mueller Report
10. The Captain
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 4/19/19
1. Spurs
2. Lil Dicky
3. Tornado Warning
4. Warriors
5. Sixers
6. Good Friday
7. Jason Momoa
8. Kodak Black
9. The Curse of La Llorona
10. Zoom
Source: Google

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 4/19/19
1. Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Lil Nas X
2. Old Town Road - Lil Nas X
3. Blue on Black (feat. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Brantley Gilbert & Brian May) - Five Finger Death Punch
4. God's Country - Blake Shelton
5. Shallow - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
6. Sweet but Psycho - Ava Max
7. Wobble Up (feat. Nicki Minaj & G-Eazy) - Chris Brown
8. Sunflower - Post Malone & Swae Lee
9. Sucker - Jonas Brothers
10. bad guy - Billie Eilish
Source: iTunes

Top 10 TV (Broadcast) Shows - Week Ending 4/14/19
1. NCAA Basketball Champ - Mon
2. NCIS
3. 60 Minutes
4. The Code
5. Blue Bloods
6. The Voice - Mon
7. Survivor
8. NCA Basketball Champ - Pregame
9. The Voice - Tue
10. American Idol - Sun
Source: Nielsen Co.

Trending Today on YouTube - 4/19/19
1. Offset - Clout ft. Cardi B
2. The Broken Galaxy Folds: Explained!
3. [BTS - Dionysys] Comeback Special Stage
4. Child's Play Official Trailer #2
5. French Montana - Slide ft. Blueface, Lil Tjay
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
1. Shazam!
2. Little
3. Hellboy
4. Pet Sematary
5. Dumbo
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Millions of Netflix Users Are Using Someone Else’s Password

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Recode.

Netflix says it has at least 139 million paid subscribers around the world. But there are decent odds that many more people are watching Netflix and letting someone else pay for it.

A new survey from analysts MoffettNathanson finds that 14 percent of U.S. Netflix users admit that they’re watching the service using an account paid for by someone they don’t live with. That is, they’re watching Netflix even though they’re not technically supposed to be watching Netflix.

As analyst Michael Nathanson points out, Netflix (which has not gone out of its way — at all — to stop password sharers) can view this as a half-empty/half-full situation.

On the plus side, he figures Netflix non-payers currently represent some 8 million users who could eventually be persuaded to pay for Netflix content. On the other hand, if those non-payers never end up paying, they end up reducing Netflix’s growth prospects.

Source: Recode
https://www.recode.net/2019/4/8/18300256/netflix-password-sharing-14-percent-survey-content-experience-moffettnathanson

Later School Start Times Significantly Reduce Teen Driving Accidents

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on ScienceDaily.

A new study shows a significant decrease in teen driving accidents when school start is delayed. Researchers studied the impact of a 50-minute delay in high school start times in one of the largest school districts in the U.S.

The study compared data from two different academic years: 2014-15, which served as a baseline, and 2015-16, after the delayed start was implemented. Students, who were between the ages of 16-18, self-reported school-night sleep duration. The Fairfax (Virginia) County Youth Survey was used to determine the average sleep duration and driving under the influence of alcohol. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles provided de-identified data on driving accidents in both academic years.

There was a 5.25% decrease in the crash rate among teen drivers between the two academic years. This significant reduction was also seen in distraction-related accidents (8.7%) and alcohol-related accidents (20%). During this same time period, there was an increase in teen accident rates by 3.5% in the rest of the state of Virginia.

"Interventions in reducing sleep loss in young drivers such as delaying school start times may significantly reduce needless injuries and deaths due to drowsy driving," says Dr. Saadoun Bin-Hasan, lead researcher.

Source: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190409135836.htm

What's Hot? 04/12/19

Trending Today on Twitter - 4/12/19
1. #PERSONAWelcomeParty
2. Beverly Cleary
3. #FridayThoughts
4. Dionysys
5. #FridayMotivation
6. #PowerTrip
7. #NationalGrilledCheeseDay
8. Jay Cutler
9. Ventura
10. Chevron
Source: Twitter

Trending Today on Google - 4/12/19
1. Kratom
2. Blue Jays vs Red Sox
3. Rebecca Schaeffer
4. Nipsey Hussle
5. Julian Assange
6. Bauhaus movement
7. Hellboy
8. Disney
9. Wendy Williams
10. Europa League
Source: Google

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 4/12/19
1. Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey) - BTS
2. Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Lil Nas X
3. Make It Right - BTS
4. HOME - BTS
5. Mikrokosmos - BTS
6. Intro: Persona - BTS
7. Dionysys - BTS
8. Jamais vu - BTS
9. Old Town Road - Lil Nas X
10. God's Country - Blake Shelton
Source: iTunes

Top 10 TV (Broadcast) Shows - Week Ending 4/7/19
1. NCAA Basketball Champ - Sat
2. NCAA Basketball - Bridge
3. The Big Bang Theory
4. NCIS
5. Young Sheldon
6. ACM Awards
7. 60 Minutes
8. FBI
9. The Voice - Mon
10. Chicago Fire
Source: Nielsen Co.

Trending Today on YouTube - 4/12/19
1. BTS Boy With Luv feat. Halsey
2. 73 Questions With Kim Kardashian West
3. Scarlett Johansson Tries To No Spoil Avengers While Eating Spicy Wings
4. Lauren London gives emotional tribute to Nipsey Hussle
5. Rapper Nipsey Hussle's Brother Eulogizes Him
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Last Weekend
1. Shazam!
2. Pet Sematary
3. Dumbo
4. Us
5. Captain Marvel
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Decline in Physical Activity Often Starts as Early as Age 7

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on ScienceDaily.

Overall physical activity starts to decline already around the age of school entry. While the proportion of physically inactive individuals rises with age there still are groups of people who manage to increase their physical activity level in adulthood and old age.

While the level of physical activity varies between individuals, it can also vary within individuals during the life course. A recent study, carried out in collaboration between the University of Jyväskylä and LIKES Research Centre for Physical Activity and Health, systematically reviewed scientific articles identifying distinct subgroups of physical activity and the factors related to these subgroups in the general population in different countries during different life phases.

The proportion of the decreasingly active individuals was exceptionally high during childhood and adolescence. Drop-out from sport participation was prevalent in adolescence while the overall physical activity started to decline already around the age of school entry among highly, moderately and low active children. The studies using self-reported measures of physical activity reported the decline of physical activity to be initiated around the age of ten while studies using modern, objective measures of physical activity found the corresponding age to be as early as seven years of age.

"However, it seems that the physical activity level of those decreasing their physical activity does not approximate to the level of the inactive ones before reaching mid-age or old age," says PhD student Irinja Lounassalo from the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä. "Thus, despite the common declining tendency of physical activity throughout the life course, being physically active in childhood and adolescence may be of high importance since it can postpone the time of becoming inactive later on."

The results support previous findings of the relatively high proportion of persistently inactive individuals at all ages, with this proportion increasing with age. Interestingly, subgroups of increasingly active participants were observed among adults and older adults.

"In the future, special attention should be paid to these individuals who increase their physical activity, because it is important to understand how potential lifelong inactivity could be turned into activity," Lounassalo suggests.

Having parental support for an active lifestyle was associated with increasing physical activity among children and adolescents, low television viewing time with persistent activity among adolescents, smoking cessation with increased activity among adults, and no chronic illnesses, a low mortality rate and good physical functioning with persistent activity among older adults. Generally, male gender, being Caucasian and having higher socioeconomic status were associated with persistent activity.

"Since physical activity behavior stabilizes with age and inactivity is more persistent behavior than activity, interventions should be targeted at children early in life before their habits become stable," emphasizes Lounassalo. "Additionally, supporting schools and sport clubs is crucial for promoting an active lifestyle for all children. Since parents may have an effect on activating their children, parents would need support for finding ways to do that. Building publically available sport facilities and safe bicycling and walkways might help in increasing opportunities for being active regardless of age, nationality, gender or educational level."

Twenty-seven articles published between 2004 and 2018 were included in this systematic review. All of the included studies used the so-called trajectory approach for identifying the distinct subgroups (i.e. trajectory classes) from the data at hand.

The study was published in the journal, BMC Public Health.

Source: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190408113959.htm

Suicidal Behavior Nearly Doubles Among U.S. Kids

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on HealthDay.

Suicide attempts and talk about suicide are rising alarmingly among America's kids, with emergency departments seeing a near doubling of cases over less than a decade, a new study reveals.

Among children aged 5 to 18, suicidal thoughts and attempts led to more than 1.1 million ER visits in 2015 -- up from about 580,000 in 2007, according to an analysis of U.S. data.

"What we found was very troubling," said lead researcher Dr. Brett Burstein, a pediatric emergency medicine doctor at Montreal Children's Hospital in Canada.

Half of the patients were 13 and older, half younger, with 43% between 5 and 10 years of age, the study found. 

Using data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Burstein also looked at the proportion of these cases compared to all pediatric ER visits.

The proportion jumped from slightly more than 2% in 2007 to 3.5% percent in 2015, the findings showed.

"It's an alarming trend," Burstein said, noting that suicidal thoughts and attempts are the strongest predictor of completed suicides.

Worse, it's possible that the study sample only catches a small percentage of kids who have suicidal thoughts and behaviors, Burstein said. That's because many kids are seen only by their primary care doctors, or not at all, so many cases are probably unreported.

And Burstein believes that analysis of 2018 data would reveal even greater increases in suicidal behavior and ideation.

What's behind the increase? It's likely a combination of factors, Burstein said, including greater recognition of the problem by parents, schools and doctors.

It could also be that kids are under more stress or are developing depression at higher rates. "Probably, all of those things are at play," Burstein noted.

Parents and schools should be educated on warning signs and steps to take.

According to experts, warning signs include:

• Preoccupation with death.
• Intense sadness or hopelessness.
• Not caring about activities that once mattered.
• Withdrawal from family, friends, sports, social activities.
• Substance abuse.
• Sleep disturbance.
• Giving away possessions.
• Risky behavior.
• Lack of energy.
• Not thinking clearly.
• Dropping grades.
• Irritability.
• Loss of appetite.

The report was published online April 8 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Source: HealthDay
https://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/suicide-health-news-646/suicidal-behavior-nearly-doubles-among-u-s-kids-744812.html