Research + News | Topic: Health

Sun safety: hard lessons for college students

(NBC News) A recent study finds that despite college students’ quest for knowledge, real-world lessons about skin cancer are totally lost on many young adults.

Dr. Corey Basch of William Paterson University in New Jersey surveyed more than 300 students. 72 knew someone diagnosed with skin cancer, or even had it themselves, yet those students were more likely to sunbathe and get sunburned, huge risk factors for skin cancer. Read the full article here.

College Students Seem To Take Longer To Recover From Concussion

Average is 1-2 weeks, but study found some kids needed more than 3 weeks to get better.

Read the article here.

How Colleges Are Fighting The Freshman 15

For parents worried about their college freshmen struggling academically or partying, add one more concern to the list: their food choices.

Read the article here.

Unhealthy Teens Face College and Job Obstacles

Being in poor health as a teenager can have a long-term influence on someone’s educational and job opportunities in adulthood, a new review suggests.

Read the full article here.

College Students Report More Stress, Less Time to Socialize

College students report experiencing a lot of stress, due to things like academic pressure and finances, and also report having little time to hang out with friends. Read the article here.

College Students Need To Change Unhealthy Ways

A study from Northwestern Medicine® and Northeastern Illinois University found that the majority of college students are engaging in unhealthy behaviors that could increase their risk of cancer later on. Racial minority students could be at an even greater risk, especially African Americans and Native Americans.

From the report:

A shocking 95 percent of college students fail to eat the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables (five or more servings a day), and more than 60 percent report not getting enough physical activity (three or more days of vigorous exercise for at least 20 minutes or five or more days of moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes a week).

“Changing unhealthy behaviors in college students now could be a way to reduce the risk of cancer as well as other diseases later in life,” said Brian Hitsman, principal investigator of the study.

Read the full report here.

Family Dinners Bolster Teens’ Mental Health

A professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, discovered family meal times are a measurable signature of social exchanges in the home that benefit adolescents’ well-being – regardless of whether or not they feel they can easily talk to their parents. In the study, researchers examined the relation between frequency of family dinners and positive and negative aspects of mental health.

Read the full report here.

Steroids Loom In NCAA Football

An investigation by The Associated Press – based on dozens of interviews with players, testers, dealers and experts and an analysis of weight records for more than 61,000 players – revealed that while those running the multibillion-dollar sport believe the problem is under control, that is hardly the case.

Read an article about the investigation from The Huffington Post here.

Study Abroad May Increase Risk for Sexual Assault

Since 2007, more than 250,000 American students have studied abroad annually for a semester or more. While there are obvious benefits associated with study abroad programs, personal risks occurring during the experience have been anecdotally reported but not systematically assessed. This study is the first to investigate the possibility of increased risk for sexual assault in female undergraduates while abroad.

Download the full report (.pdf for purchase) here.

Teen ADHD May Raise Risk for Adult Problems

According to researcher David W. Brook, professor of psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, teens diagnosed with ADHD are likely to have an array of issues as adults, including problems with physical and mental health, work, and finances. Brook and his colleagues looked at data that assessed teens at ages 14 and 16, and later as adults at 37. The original study began in 1975.

Read the full report here.