Opioid overdose deaths have been increasing in the United States, up to more than 107,000 deaths in 2022, and this trend includes young people. In youth ages 14-18 years, opioid overdose rates more than doubled from 2019 to 2021.

With more than 3.5 million youth athletes participating in cheerleading in the U.S., including competition and school teams, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is issuing recommendations to improve the safety of the sport and reduce the risk of injury, including concussions.

In the past decade, autism prevalence has increased to 1 in 36, which may reflect work to improve autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, particularly of autistic females.

Teenagers and young adults are the primary users of e-cigarettes, with 10 percent of U.S. high school-aged adolescents and 11 percent of U.S. young adults (18-24 years) vaping. A new study in the July 2024 Pediatrics, “Modification of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems among Adolescents and Young Adults,” found that not only are teenagers and young adults vaping, but they’re modifying e-cigarettes in unexpected and potentially dangerous ways.

U.S. school shootings have risen in frequency in the recent 25 years and are now at their highest recorded levels, according to a study published in the March 2024 Pediatrics. 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, antidepressant use was rising among adolescents and young adults. New research shows this rise not only continued but began to accelerate through and after the COVID pandemic, according to “Antidepressant Dispensing to U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults: 2016-2022,” in the March 2024 Pediatrics.

Black and Hispanic children who were hospitalized in the United States in 2019 were more likely to experience post-operative hemorrhage, respiratory failure or sepsis, and blood-stream infections than white pediatric patients, according to a study of pediatric safety events. 

While most children and teenagers recover from COVID-19 within a few days or weeks, some experience longer lasting effects, known casually as “long COVID.”

Children and teens reap many physical and mental health benefits from participating in sports, but research shows about 70 percent of them drop out of these organized activities by age 13.

The American Academy of Pediatrics analyzes the use of genetically modified organism (GMO)-based foods and their effect on children’s health in a new clinical report that urges more research and transparency in labeling to help families make informed decisions when shopping for food.

Firearm-related injuries are the leading cause of death among children and adolescents, and more than 50 percent of U.S. K-12 schools use anonymous reporting systems to decrease these firearm injuries. According to a new research brief, “Firearm-Related Tips in a Statewide School Anonymous Reporting System,” in the February 2024 Pediatrics (available online Jan. 17), youth-submitted tips successfully bring in lifesaving responding services in the communities in which they are used. 

A study, “Racial and Ethnic Disparities for Unmet Needs by Mental Health Condition: 2016-2021,” published in the January 2024 Pediatrics examines gaps in treatment among children with depression, anxiety, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and behavioral problems. 

Nearly half of all homicides in children ages 17 or younger from 2003-2020 were caused by firearms, and of those, 12 percent were related to intimate partner violence, according to a study published in the December 2023 Pediatrics.

As standing electric scooters (e-scooters) have become an increasingly popular mode of transportation, new research finds a 71-percent increase in injuries reported in children and teens ages 18 and younger from 2020 to 2021, with limited use of helmets resulting in the head as the most injured body part.

There were significant disruptions to childhood vaccine uptake during the COVID pandemic along with vaccine-related misinformation and disinformation, making some concerned that vaccine hesitancy toward childhood vaccines increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a new study “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Parental Attitudes Toward Routine Childhood Vaccines,” in the November 2023 Pediatrics, found that overall hesitancy for childhood vaccines did not increase.