Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Watching TV Affects Kids' Eating Habits Beyond Screen Time

Parents may have another reason to limit the amount of television their children watch.

Watching TV affects what kids eat even when they are not glued to it, according to results from a study published this month in Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

"We found that both the amount of television viewing as well as the frequency of snacking while watching TV were related to a cluster of unhealthy eating behaviors," said Leah Lipsky, the study's lead author and a staff scientist at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md.

The study also found that the relationship between television watching and some unhealthy eating patterns remained even when children were not watching TV, according to Lipsky and co-author Ronald Iannotti, also a staff scientist at the institute.

Results of the study found that, after controlling for socioeconomic factors, computer use and level of physical activity, watching television was associated with eating fewer fruits and vegetables and eating more candy, soda and fast food as well as skipping breakfast.

The unexpected result was that the relationship between television watching and some unhealthy eating habits remained even after the researchers controlled for television snacking.

"Most people say: 'Oh yeah, no, I snack when I'm at the TV. This is nothing new,'" Iannotti said. "But even when you control for snacking while at the computer or at the TV, the effect or the relationship between TV viewing and this dietary pattern continues, so it suggests that TV viewing may have an effect beyond simply what you're doing while you're watching TV. I think that's important."

Source: Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-x-tv-and-chid-health-0516-20120516,0,3859596.story

Social Media is Brain Candy

Researchers at Harvard have gotten to the bottom of why so many of us are compelled to share our every thought, movement, like and want through mediums like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram and Pinterest.

In a series of experiments, the researchers found that the act of disclosing information about oneself activates the same sensation of pleasure in the brain that we get from eating food, getting money or having sex. It's all a matter of degrees of course, (talking about yourself isn't quite as pleasurable as sex for most of us), but the science makes it clear that our brain considers self-disclosure to be a rewarding experience.

This may help explain recent surveys of Internet use that show that roughly 80% of posts to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook consist simply of announcements about one's own immediate experience.

The researchers found that the brain regions associated with reward -- the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) -- were strongly engaged when people were talking about themselves, and less engaged when they were talking about someone else.

Source: Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-self-disclosure-study-20120508,0,7870124.story

What's Hot? 5/11/12

Google Hot Internet Searches - 5/11/12
    1.    time magazine cover
    2.    chris anderson
    3.    mitt romney bully
    4.    bristol palin
    5.    flesh eating bacteria
    6.    jpm
    7.    josh beckett
    8.    gastroenteritis
    9.    necrotizing fasciitis
    10.    vikings stadium
Source: Google

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 5/11/12
    1.    Google
    2.    Facebook
    3.    YouTube
    4.    Yahoo!
    5.    Amazon
    6.    Wikipedia
    7.    eBay
    8.    Twitter
    9.    Craigslist
    10.    LinkedIn
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Singles - 5/11/12
    1.    Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye
    2.    Payphone - Maroon 5
    3.    Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
    4.    Boyfriend - Justin Bieber
    5.    Wild Ones (feat. Sia) - Flo Rida
    6.    We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monae) - Fun
    7.    What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction
    8.    No Lie (feat. Drake) - 2 Chainz
    9.    Starships - Nicki Minaj
    10.    Where Have You Been - Rhianna
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 5/11/12
    1.    Big Bang Theory
    2.    American Idol - Wednesday
    3.    Modern Family
    4.    American Idol - Thursday
    5.    Two and a Half Men
    6.    Two Broke Girls
    7.    The Voice
    8.    Grey's Anatomy
    9.    How I Met Your Mother
    10.    Mike & Molly
Source: Nielsen Co

Top 5 Most Viewed Videos on YouTube - This Week - 5/11/12
    1.    Secret Garden Versailles
    2.    Magic Keyboard
    3.    Edecan De Debate Presindencial 2012
    4.    Capital Metro Bus Hit By A Nick
    5.    Happy Cinco de Mayo
Source: YouTube

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 5/11/12
    1.    The Avengers
    2.    Think Like A Man
    3.    The Hunger Games
    4.    The Lucky One
    5.    The Five-Year Engagement
Source: Variety

How Tech is Changing College Life

More than 90% of college students use email to communicate with professors and 73% say they cannot study without technology. Seven in 10 take notes on keyboards instead of paper, virtually all students who own an ereader read textbooks on it and most use digital tools when preparing a presentation. All that tech has caused something of a dependency too — 38% of students can’t go more than 10 minutes without checking their smartphone or other device. All told, students spent $13 billion on electronics in 2009.

Source: Mashable
http://mashable.com/2012/05/06/tech-college-infographic/

 

Teen Passengers Up Risk for Fatal Accidents for Novice Drivers

A new study by AAA finds teens who drive with friends in the car are at significantly greater risk for fatal accidents.

The study found that the risk of 16- and 17-year-old drivers being killed in a crach increases with each additional passenger under the age of 21.

The study's findings note the fatality risk:

• Increases 44% when carrying one passenger younger than 21.
• Doubles when carrying two passengers younger than 21.
• Quadruples when carrying three or more passengers younger than 21.
• Carrying at least one passenger age 35 or older reduces a teen driver's risk of death by 62%.

Source: USA Today
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/05/aaa-study-passengers-up-risk-of-teen-driver-fatalities/1#.T6qP0u3lPZE

The Avengers - Box Office Superheroes

"The Avengers," from Walt Disney's Marvel Studios, has broken the record for the best opening weekend in Hollywood history.

The Joss Whedon-directed movie, riding stellar reviews and a tsunami of Twitter love, piled up $200.3 million at theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to an estimate from Disney. That total, which beat the $169.2-million record set during the opening weekend of 2011's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2," was turbocharged by pricier IMAX and 3-D tickets. About 52% of those who saw the movie opted to shell out a few extra bucks to watch it in 3-D. IMAX theaters even ran out of seats to sell to moviegoers.

The North American box office total added to an already unfolding global success story; playing in 52 international markets, the movie collected $151.5 million this weekend, raising its tally abroad to $441.5 million. That means that after just two weeks in release, "The Avengers" already has sold $641.8-million worth of tickets, jumping past "The Hunger Games" on the ranking of top-grossing 2012 releases worldwide.

Source: L.A. Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-boxoffice-20120507,0,2730797.story

Teen Sex: Most Girls Don't

The majority of girls in the United States do not have sex before the age of 19, a change from earlier years, a new report shows.

Between 2006 and 2010, about 57 percent of girls ages 15 to 19 said they had never had sex, an increase from 49 percent in 1995, according to the report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In addition, those who are having sex are increasingly using highly effective methods of contraception. The report said that 60 percent of sexually active girls ages 15 to 19 said they used contraception methods such as an intrauterine device, the pill, a patch, ring or injectable contraception — an increase from 47 percent who said the same in 1995.

The portion of teens who said they had not had sex was about the same across all ethnic groups.

Younger teens were less likely to have had sex: 73 percent of girls ages 15 to 17 reported never having had sex, compared with 36 percent of girls ages 18 and 19, the report said.

Source: MSNBC
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/03/11522749-teen-sex-actually-most-girls-dont-report-says

Most Parents Paying to Help Young Adults

A new study finds that more than 60% of today's young adults have received financial help from their parents. Among the 62% of young adults getting parents' help, the average amount was $12,185, says lead author Patrick Wightman of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Children who parents said were cheerful, self-reliant and got along well with others before age 12 were more likely to receive financial gifts or loans as young adults, Wightman says. And in families with more than one child, "if they perceive one of those kids to have a better attitude or to be more self-reliant, that kid has higher odds of receiving this type of support," he says.

The analysis is based on more than 2,000 interviews with 1,368 people ages 19-22 and their parents in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

About 42% of parents help adult children pay their bills, 35% help with college tuition, 23% help with vehicle expenses, and 22% help with rent away from home, researchers found.

Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/story/2012-04-27/Boomer-parents-provide-financial-help/54707250/1

Top 10 Cars for Teens

Insurer USAA has published a list of the top 10 cars for teens.

The list is based on a survey of what USAA says parents considered as their top attributes in picking a car for a teen. They are reliability (81%), a high safety rating (73%) and cheap to insure (62%). With that in mind, here's the list:

 1. Scion tC
 2. Nissan Cube
 3. Honda Fit
 4. Scion xD
 5. Scion xB
 6. Toyota Yaris
 7. Honda Civic
 8. Hyundai Elantra
 9. Honda CR-Z
10. Kia Forte

Source: USA Today
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2012/05/rewarding-your-grad-heres-the-top-10-cars-for-teens/1#.T6fyZ-3lPZF

40% of Teens Video Chat With Friends

More teens are using video chats to interact and communicate with friends, thanks in part to the adoption growth of apps such as Skype, Googletalk and iChat, according to a new study.

A report by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project finds that about 37% of Internet users ages 12 to 17 participate in video chats. Not surprisingly, 42% of girls — who tend to be more active on social networking sites — are more likely to web chat with others compared to boys (33%).

Teens of various ages are equally likely to use web chat services. About 34% of online 12 to 13 year olds use video chat, while 39% of 14 to 17 year olds do the same. Teens who are more active online, text frequently and use social media often are, not surprisingly, more likely to video chat.

About 77% of all teens between the ages of 12 and 17 use Facebook, while just 16% use Twitter. Teens who use Facebook and Twitter are more likely to use video chat, with 41% of Facebook users web chatting (compared with 25% of non-users) and 60% of Twitter users using video chat, compared with 33% of non-Twitter users.

The study also found that 77% of all teens have cell phones, 75% of which can send and receive texts.

Source: Mashable
http://mashable.com/2012/05/03/teens-video-chat/