Is your teenager skipping breakfast? Why is that happening and what can you do? As per the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which surveyed adolescent health and well-being found that 1 in 4 students in high school ate breakfast, which means 3 in 4 high school students are not eating their breakfast. This data is as per the 2023 survey.

What Did The Study Intend?

The report describes a 10-year long trend and also recent changes among the two years. The study delved deeper into adolescents' dietary, physical activity and sleep behaviors. The study is also based on a national youth risk behavior survey of a representative sample of students from grade nine to 12.

What Did The Study Find?

The study found that while high school students drank slightly less soda and sports drinks and consumed more water, other healthy eating habits declined. In 2023, only 27% of students ate breakfast every day in the past week. The numbers were even lower for female students, with just 22% eating breakfast daily, compared to 32% of male students. Boys were also more likely to eat fruits and vegetables daily and drink water at least three times a day. Poor mental health and lack of physical activity have also been linked to skipping breakfast.

The other findings included a survey across 10-year period, where a decrease in the percentage of students eating fruits from 65% to 55%, eating vegetables, from 61% to 58%, and having breakfast daily from 38% to 27% was noted.

However, there was a positive trend among this, which was in children drinking plain water at least three times a day, which increased from 49% to 54% from when the survey began in 2015.. There were fewer students who also said that they drank soda in 2023 than in 2013. On an average, in 2013, around 22% students avoided soda, whereas in 2023, 31% students avoided it.

The report also emphasized that a healthy diet, along with daily physical activity and sufficient sleep further contributes to a healthy lifestyle. “The 10-year trends from 2013 to 2023 also show a decline in healthy dietary, physical activity, and sleep behaviors,” the survey reported.

Why Do High School Students Skip Breakfast?

While there is no one straightforward answer to it, psychologists and those who study children, believe that for many high school going kids, it is the easiest time to skip a meal. This is because they are caught between rushing to school, or not just that hungry in the morning. So for them, to sit down to have a breakfast may seem hassle and something they would have to take time out from their busy schedule. They at this age also prioritize their extra-curricular activities.

There has also been a shift in their circadian rhythm, and most teens cannot fall asleep before 11 pm, or even at midnight. Which means they wake up tired and struggle to do things right in the morning, which is why they choose to skip breakfast or give extra minutes to any other activities.

There is of course another, more popular reason, to lose weight. While experts and studies, like the one published in the Journal of Nutrition that found skipping breakfast leads to higher levels of hunger hormones, the students still feel the need to do this. However, it could lead to a slow metabolism, prompt the body to conserve energy and burn fewer calories, weight gain and deprive yo off the essential nutrients like calcium, iron, and vitamin D.

Without a morning breakfast, your blood sugar might drop too, which can increase irritability and stress, along with including the risk of depression in teenage.

Since July 2025, at least 52 maternity units across the United States have been shut down. Eight more closures were announced recently, raising concerns that upcoming federal Medicaid cuts could further restrict access to pregnancy and neonatal care, especially in rural communities and regions with limited healthcare resources.

The closures come as hospitals prepare for changes under the HR1 bill, which will reduce federal Medicaid funding and introduce stricter eligibility rules and work requirements. Although the legislation's impact is expected to be felt in 2027, some hospitals have already cited the anticipated changes as a reason for ending maternity services.

US Maternity Units Are Closing

Also read: High BP in Pregnancy Linked to 42,000 Maternal Deaths, 500,000+ Stillbirths, Newborn Deaths: WHO

Maternity wards are expensive to operate because they require round-the-clock staff, special equipment and teams trained for emergencies. Low reimbursement rates, staffing shortages, and declining birth rates have already placed financial pressure on hospitals. Reduced Medicaid funding could make it harder for some hospitals to keep these services.

Erin Jones, senior director of legislative and strategic counsel at the nonprofit March of Dimes, warned that the changes could worsen existing healthcare problems.

“We’re deeply concerned that these changes already have and will continue to worsen an already serious maternity care crisis,” she said. “Reduced funding and restrictions on how states finance Medicaid will put additional pressure on state budgets and hospitals, increasing the risk that communities lose essential maternity services and specialized providers close to home.”

Hospitals that have permanently closed maternity wards include Centra Southside Community Hospital in Virginia and St Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in rural northeastern Georgia. Both mentioned upcoming federal Medicaid policy changes as the reasons for their decisions.

Impact Of Medicaid Cuts On Pregnant Women

Also read: American Academy of Pediatrics Warns Of Raw Milk Risks, Calls For Ban

Medicaid is a major source of health coverage for low-income Americans, paying for approximately 40% of births in the country. Changes to the program could affect hospitals’ finances as well as patients’ ability to receive health coverage.

Although pregnant women are supposed to be exempt from the new work requirements, eligibility rules could still create difficulties for some patients.

Benjamin Sommers, a professor of healthcare economics at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the law would “absolutely” affect pregnant women and pregnancy care facilities.

“It’s not true that this law in any way protects Medicaid for pregnant mothers, for low-income parents. It adds financial strain to the providers and the insurance program that they rely on,” he said.

Sommers warned that some pregnant women are enrolled through Medicaid expansion rather than a pregnancy-specific category. If state authorities do not know that a beneficiary is pregnant, she may not be automatically protected from the new requirements.

“Someone could be enrolled through Medicaid expansion, they could get pregnant and they could mistakenly think – because they heard it on the news that this law doesn’t affect pregnant people – [they’re] fine, and it turns out the state doesn’t know they’re pregnant and they lose coverage."

Rural Communities At Risk

The consequences of maternity unit closures can impact other aspects other than childbirth. Pregnant women may have to travel farther for antenatal appointments, emergency obstetric care and delivery, adding transport costs and making timely treatment more difficult.

March of Dimes has identified 31 rural hospitals with labour and delivery services that could be at risk. If these units close, 96 counties could lose their remaining local delivery services, Jones warned. “Losing these services means fewer places to deliver safely and fewer options for pregnancies requiring specialized care,” she added.

The organisation’s 2026 report found that 34.6% of US counties were maternity care deserts, meaning they had no obstetric clinicians or birthing facilities. These areas are home to approximately 2.4 million women of reproductive age.

Tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson is expanding his horizons in longevity health experiments to female physiology, including monitoring his girlfriend Kate Tolo’s nighttime clitoral engorgement.

The purpose is to understand how genital blood flow may give clues about female sexual function and cardiovascular health.

The experiment is part of his extensive effort to collate data on women’s health that could be channeled into useful biomarkers.

But while research suggests a connection between genital blood flow, sexual arousal and cardiometabolic health, tracking these changes during sleep may not be an established way to screen heart disease.

Bryan Johnson Is Tracking His Girlfriend's Clitoral Blood Flow

Bryan Johnson and Kate Tolo are in the process of creating a detailed health-monitoring program through their company, Immortals. Their aim is to improve in-depth understanding of female physiology.

The process is partly inspired by research on erectile dysfunction in men. As erections depend on healthy blood vessels, erectile dysfunction can sometimes help in the detection of cardiovascular disease.

In an interview discussing the project, Tolo explained the reasoning behind investigating genital blood flow in women. “Because the penis has smaller blood vessels than the rest of the body, and so it's the first thing to show up when problems happen. So it's all about blood flow. That's why it should work for women just as well as it works for men, because we have blood vessels too,” she said. Johnson also highlighted nighttime erections as a physiological measure worth studying.

However, the evidence linking male erectile dysfunction with cardiovascular risk is more established than the evidence for using female genital blood flow measurements as a cardiovascular monitoring tool.

Also read: Bryan Johnson Blames Sugary Cereals, Soda and Stress for His Autoimmune Disease; Shares Treatment Plan

What Does Clitoral Engorgement Reveal About Sexual Health?

The clitoris contains erectile tissue supplied by blood vessels. During sexual arousal, increased blood flow contributes to genital engorgement and physiological changes associated with sexual response.

Blood circulation is therefore one component of sexual function. Reduced genital blood flow or increased vascular resistance may be associated with difficulties involving arousal, lubrication or orgasm.

A small pilot study published in the International Journal of Impotence Research examined 27 women and found that clitoral tissue perfusion was linked with scores measuring sexual function, including arousal, lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction.

The findings indicate that genital blood supply may be relevant to understanding female sexual health. However, the study was small and did not establish that nighttime clitoral blood-flow monitoring can diagnose sexual dysfunction.

Sexual function is also influenced by hormones, medications, neurological health, psychological factors, relationships and underlying medical conditions. Blood flow alone cannot explain every aspect of sexual wellbeing.

Also read: Bryan Johnson's 90-Day Experiment Claims That Oxygen Therapy Could Beat Aging

Can Clitoral Blood Flow Reveal Cardiovascular Risk?

The endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels, helps regulate circulation. Metabolic conditions like diabetes, insulin resistance, high cholesterol, and hypertension can affect vascular function, including genital tissues.

A 2024 review published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, which included 54 studies and nearly 149,000 participants, also found that women with cardiovascular disease had a higher risk of female sexual dysfunction.

This supports a relationship between cardiovascular and sexual health, but it does not validate Johnson’s tracking method.

Nocturnal genital responses may provide useful information about physiology, but researchers would need to establish what constitutes a normal pattern, how measurements vary with sleep and hormonal cycles, and whether particular changes reliably predict disease. The approach would also need to be tested in larger populations.

Pope Leo XIV has announced that he will undergo surgery in the coming days to have a nodule removed that was discovered in his lung recently. The 71-year-old pontiff said it was detected early and was well contained, which is why the doctors recommended a removal procedure.

The Vatican has not disclosed whether the nodule is benign or cancerous. The procedure has nevertheless sparked attention to lung nodules, a common medical finding that can sometimes warrant further clinical investigation to rule out cancer and other serious diseases.

“Recently, during some medical examinations, doctors found a localized nodule in my lung,” the pope said during his Sunday address in St. Peter’s Square on October 11. “It was detected at a very early stage and is well contained.”

He added, “The doctors believe it is advisable to intervene, so, following their advice, I have decided to undergo surgery to remove it. The operation is already scheduled for the next few days.” The Vatican said the pope’s recovery may take about a week.

What Is A Lung Nodule?

Also read: Lung Nodule on CT Scan? Doctors Explain When You Should Worry

Dr. Vinayak Maka, Senior Oncologist, Department of Oncology, Ramaiah Memorial Hospital told HealthandMe, "A lung nodule is a small, round or oval-shaped growth in the lung, typically less than 3 cm in size, most often discovered incidentally during a chest X-ray or CT scan done for an unrelated reason."

According to the American Thoracic Society, lung nodules may develop because of scar tissue, a previous lung infection or irritation. In a few cases, however, a nodule may be an early sign of lung cancer. Most lung nodules are benign.

"A lung nodule finding on a CT scan often triggers panic, but the reality is reassuring. Over 95% of lung nodules are benign, arising from old infections, scars, or inflammation. Still, understanding when a nodule warrants concern can be lifesaving." Dr. Vinayak Maka added.

When Does A Lung Nodule Need To Be Removed?

Also read: Sharmila Tagore’s Stage Zero Lung Cancer: Can Surgery Prevent Progression?

Doctors assess the nodule's size, shape, location, and appearance on imaging, along with the patient’s medical history and other risk factors.

Not every lung nodule requires surgery. Many are monitored through repeat CT scans to determine whether they remain stable or grow over time. Doctors may recommend additional testing or removal when:

• The nodule grows: An increase in size on follow-up scans can raise suspicion of cancer and prompt further investigation. Doctors say nodules smaller than 6 mm have a very low cancer risk (under 1%) and usually only need routine follow-up. Those measuring 6–8 mm carry a slightly higher risk (1–2.5%) and are typically monitored with a repeat CT scan after 6–12 months.

• Its appearance is concerning: Certain shapes, edges or other imaging features may make a nodule more suspicious.

• Risk factors: Older age, history of smoking, family history of lung cancer, and past exposure to substances like asbestos may be considered.

• Imaging is inconclusive: When the possibility of cancer remains significant, obtaining tissue for examination may be necessary.

• The nodule is considered sufficiently suspicious for cancer: If the risk is high, doctors may recommend surgical removal rather than relying on monitoring or a less invasive biopsy.

The decision also depends on the nodule’s location, whether it can be reached safely for a biopsy and the patient’s overall health. Surgery may provide both a confirmed diagnosis and treatment if the growth proves to be an early-stage cancer.

Stephen Liu, a lung cancer specialist at Georgetown University in Washington and division chief of haematology-oncology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, explained the role of surgery in such cases.

“When there is sufficient concern, and when it is safe to do so, based on the location of the nodule and the overall health of the patient, surgical removal can provide a definitive diagnosis,” he said.

Pope Leo said his lung nodule was detected at a very early stage. His planned surgery is therefore a decision made by his treating doctors based on information that has not been made public.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed support for the pontiff, saying, “I would like to express to the Holy Father my personal support, and that of the Italian government, as he faces this challenge in the coming days.”

She added, “The serenity and composure with which he spoke about it during today’s Angelus are reassuring."