HealthDay (3/3, Preidt) reports researchers examined data on media use and binge-eating in children and concluded that “each additional hour that children spent on social media was associated with a 62% higher risk of binge-eating disorder one year later, and each extra hour spent watching or streaming television or movies was linked with a 39% higher risk of binge-eating disorder one year later.” The findings were published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Social Media, Binge Eating Often Go Together for Kids “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 3, 2021

Healio (3/3, Downey) reports researchers found in a meta-analysis that “children and adolescents who bully their peers have a higher risk for drug, alcohol and tobacco use later in life.” The review study was published in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Children And Adolescents Who Bully Peers Have Higher Risk For Substance Use Later In Life, Review Study Indicates “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, March 3, 2021

Healio (3/2, Michael) reports, “Increased incarceration rates in counties across the U.S. were linked to increased risk for mortality from infectious diseases, chronic lower respiratory disease, substance abuse, suicide and multiple other causes,” researchers concluded after conducting “a retrospective, longitudinal study using data on U.S. county-level incarceration from 1987 to 2017 from the Vera Institute of Justice, and data on cause-specific mortality in people aged younger than 75 years from 1988 to 2018 collected from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System.” The findings were published online Feb. 23 in The Lancet Public Health.

Related Links:

— “Incarceration rates linked to elevated risk for premature death “Erin Michael, Healio, March 2, 2021

MedPage Today (3/2, Fiore) reports that for much of 2020, “teens’ mental health services accounted for a much greater proportion of all their medical claims than in the past,” according to a paper (PDF) from FAIR Health. MedPage Today adds, “Mental health claims essentially doubled as a percentage of all medical claims for individuals age 13-18 in March (+97%) and April (+103.5%) of 2020 compared with the same periods a year earlier,” according to the paper.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (3/2, Gramigna) reports, “A significant proportion of youths may experience post-traumatic stress [PTS] symptoms after a natural disaster,” investigators concluded in a study that sought to assess “PTS symptom trajectories among 1,707 youth, for whom the mean age was 9.61 years and of whom 46% self-identified as white non-Hispanic, after four major U.S. hurricanes, as well as to assess factors linked to those trajectories.” The findings were published online Feb. 15 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Many youths experience post-traumatic stress after natural disasters, study finds “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 2, 2021