Credits: Canva
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.
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.
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.
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.
Credit: iStock
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that Midwest Poultry Services is voluntarily recalling nearly 1.6 million dozen eggs due to possible Salmonella Enteritidis contamination.
The recalled eggs were produced and distributed from Texas farms between June 6 and July 3, 2026, with "sell by" or "best by" dates between July 20 and August 17, 2026.
"Midwest Poultry Services, L.P. is voluntarily recalling 1,589,577 dozen white shell eggs and brown cage free shell eggs produced in Texas because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis" the FDA said in a statement.
While no illnesses reported were linked to the Midwest Poultry Services eggs as of the announcement, Midwest Poultry Services has halted distributing eggs produced on its Texas farms, the health regulator said.
The recall includes white shell eggs and brown cage-free shell eggs produced in Texas with "sell by" or "best by" dates between July 20 and August 17, 2026, according to Midwest Poultry Services.
Also read: Montelukast Mental Health Warning Still Largely Overlooked By Psychiatrists
According to the FDA, the recalled eggs were shipped to foodservice and retail customers in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
They were sold at:
The company said it identified the issue at its two Texas farms through proactive environmental monitoring and root cause analysis. It has also halted distribution of fresh eggs produced at its Texas farms.
Consumers who purchased the recalled eggs are advised not to consume them and to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Read More: Scientists Find Rare Contagious Skin Cancer In Fish From US, Canada: Should Humans Worry?
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
According to the FDA, the contamination involves Salmonella Enteritidis, a strain of Salmonella bacteria commonly associated with contaminated poultry and eggs and one of the leading causes of human salmonellosis worldwide.
Salmonella infection can manifest with a range of unpleasant symptoms, typically including diarrhea, fever, vomiting, stomach cramps, and dehydration. While most healthy individuals tend to recover within about a week without specific medical intervention, the infection can lead to more serious and potentially life-threatening illness in certain vulnerable populations.
These high-risk groups include young children, older adults, and individuals with weakened immune systems.
For these individuals, Salmonella can cause severe dehydration, invasive infections (where the bacteria spread beyond the intestines), and other serious complications that may require hospitalization.
In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis, the FDA said.
Credit: University of Vermont
Scientists have identified a rare contagious skin cancer in brown bullhead catfish living in lakes across the US and Canada's Quebec, marking only the fourth known case of a naturally transmissible cancer in the animal kingdom.
A team led by the University of Vermont found that mysterious black skin lesions affecting brown bullhead catfish in Lake Memphremagog and other lakes in New England and Quebec were caused by a transmissible melanoma—the first such cancer ever identified in a freshwater fish species.
The findings, published in the journal Nature, add freshwater fish to a short list of species known to develop cancers that spread through the transfer of living cancer cells. Previously, transmissible cancers had been identified only in Tasmanian devils (facial tumor disease), dogs (canine transmissible venereal tumor), and shellfish, including clams, mussels, and other bivalve mollusks (leukemia-like transmissible cancers).
“The cancer cells behave more like parasites than conventional tumors, moving from fish to fish,” said the researchers led by the University of Vermont.
"The discovery sheds light on how cancer can spread in the wild and raises important questions about where this cancer originated, how it will affect fish health and populations—and how cancer works in all animals including humans," they added.
Also read: Can GLP-1 Drugs Like Ozempic, Mounjaro Cause Hair Loss? Study Says It's Rare But Real
Since 2012, anglers and biologists have reported increasing numbers of brown bullhead catfish with raised black skin patches in Lake Memphremagog, which straddles Vermont and Quebec. By 2014, nearly one in three fish examined had developed the dark lesions.
Initially, researchers believed the disease might be caused by a virus. They later suspected pollution or another environmental pathogen. However, further investigation revealed that the lesions were actually melanoma.
“This was surprising, and we wanted to know how a bottom-dwelling fish was getting a cancer we associate with exposure to too much sunlight,” said Julie Dragon, a scientist at the University of Vermont.
Using whole-genome sequencing, the team identified hundreds of thousands of shared genetic variants among tumor samples that were absent from the host fish, confirming that the cancer spreads between animals through living cancer cells.
Researchers are now trying to determine exactly how the cancer moves from one fish to another. They believe that the tumors appear only "in larger fish that are of spawning age".
Mark Henderson, a fish biologist and study co-leader in UVM’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources said that it “maybe some part of spawning behavior leads to the spreading of the cancer between animals."
During spawning, brown bullhead gather closely in shallow water, allowing physical contact that could transfer tumor cells. Because the fish lack scales and spend much of their time on lake bottoms, scientists also believe sediments could harbor free-floating cancer cells.
The study also suggests that naturally occurring arsenic or hormonal changes may weaken the fish's immune system, making them more susceptible to infection.
Despite the unusual discovery, researchers stress that there is no known risk to humans.
Lake Memphremagog supplies drinking water to more than 175,000 people, but scientists say the cancer cells cannot infect or survive in another species. They also state that the fish are safe to handle for research and monitoring.
Fish remains a highly nutritious food, rich in high-quality protein, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids that support heart and brain health.
Quebec's Ministry of the Environment recommends not eating fish with tumors, even though there is no evidence that doing so poses a risk to human health.
The findings raise broader questions about how pollution, habitat stress, and climate change may influence the evolution and spread of diseases in wildlife.
Credit: AI
Researchers have developed an ultrasensitive blood test that can detect biological signs of Sjögren’s disease more than a decade before symptoms appear, potentially paving the way for earlier treatment and precision medicine.
Published in The Lancet Rheumatology, the researchers found that elevated levels of interferon-alpha (IFN-α), a key immune signaling protein, can be detected in the blood up to 14 years before a clinical diagnosis of Sjögren’s disease.
Observed every year on July 23, Sjögren’s Disease Day raises awareness about a chronic autoimmune disease that often goes undiagnosed for years because its symptoms, including dry eyes, dry mouth, fatigue, and joint pain, can mimic other conditions.
Diagnosis often takes years, by then damage to the salivary glands, tear glands, nerves, lungs, or kidneys already happens, making recovery impossible.
The newly developed blood test could change that by identifying people at risk long before symptoms begin. This could allow doctors to monitor patients closely and begin treatment earlier.
Also read: World Sjogren’s Day 2025: Why This “Mild” Autoimmune Condition Can Be Life-Altering
The researchers analyzed blood samples from:
Using an ultrasensitive single-molecule blood test, they measured interferon-alpha, a protein produced by the immune system during inflammation. The findings showed:
Also read: Mayim Bialik Says Just One GLP-1 Shot Triggered ‘Nightmare’ Side Effects
The researchers believe the test could help doctors identify which patients are most likely to benefit from therapies that specifically target interferon-driven inflammation.
Professor David Hunt, from the University of Edinburgh, said, "Sjögren's disease is a debilitating condition which is often overlooked. We are delighted to have shown how precision medicine technologies can be used in Sjögren's disease to help decode the immune pathways which cause disease. We hope that this is an important step towards making our ultrasensitive IFN-α blood test available to people affected by this condition."
Professor Rayk Behrendt, from University Hospital Bonn, added, "Now, for the first time, we can take treatments geared toward suppressing the interferon effect and trial them specifically on patients with elevated interferon levels. We might also find new approaches to treatment that will help a large percentage of patients over the long term."
Sjögren’s disease is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the body's moisture-producing glands, particularly those that make tears and saliva.
Although dry eyes and dry mouth are the primary symptoms, the disease can also affect the joints, lungs, kidneys, nervous system, and other organs. Around 90% of patients are women, and diagnosis is often delayed because symptoms overlap with those of many other illnesses.
Researchers say the findings mark a major step toward earlier diagnosis and precision medicine for Sjögren’s disease, offering hope that future patients may receive treatment years before irreversible organ damage develops.
© 2024 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited