Health Of U.S. Teens Declining Lack Of Exercise, Poor Diet, Risky Habits Are Main Causes

While the number of teenagers in the United States is increasing, their health appears to be deteriorating, mainly due to lack of exercise, poor eating habits, drugs, unsafe sex and risky driving, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

A related trend indicates an increase in poverty among teens, adolescents and single-parent families, the researchers found. Their report, “America’s Adolescents: Are They Healthy?” was based on data compiled from several recent national studies.

A particularly alarming finding, researchers said, was the large number of adolescents who say they carry a gun or some other weapon - one-third of all male students nationwide.

On the positive side, overall death rates among adolescents and young adults decreased between the mid-1980s and mid1990s, and over the past 15 years there was a significant decline in the use of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

Teen pregnancy also consistently decreased between 1991 and 1994.

But the good news was tempered by recent data showing cigarette smoking and other drug abuse again on the rise, with 25 percent of adolescents smoking every day and a like number reporting heavy, episodic drinking.

Moreover, about one-third report drinking and driving in the last month, reflecting the major theme in the report: Most deaths among young people are preventable.

Other report findings:

Accidents, homicide and suicide cause the greatest number of deaths among the young.

Young males are dying at a higher rate than females, across all race and age lines.

Black males, ages 15 to 19, are more than nine times as likely to die from homicide as their white peers.

The current U.S. adolescent population - ages 10 to 19 - is about 36 million and is expected to reach 40 million within three years.