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Mr. Beast The Banker? YouTube Celebrity Acquires Financial Service Platform For Young People 

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Beast Industries, founded by the most followed YouTuber in the world Mr. Beast, has recently acquired Step, a financial services app for teenagers and young adults that has over seven million users.

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Colon Cancer Rates Have Doubled In Younger People, And It Could Be Because Of Gut Bacteria 

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Healthcare professionals have been uncertain as to why colon cancer cases have doubled in people under 55 within the past two decades. Now, a new study is giving some answers, and the answer has to do with damage caused by gut bacteria.

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Teenagers Who Are Addicted To Their Screens Are More Likely To Have Emotional And Behavioral Issues 

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According to new research, teenagers who show signs of being addicted to their phones, social media, and/or video games are at a much greater risk of dealing with emotional issues and suicidal behavior. 

In a recent study published in the journal Jama, more than 4,000 adolescents were tracked for four years. It found that about one in three teenagers reported increasingly addictive use of social media and smart phones. Those who were on that increasingly addictive track had about double the risk of suicidal behavior towards the end of the four years. 

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While screen time wasn’t directly linked to the mental health issues that arose, the compulsive and addictive nature of smart phone use paralleled the increase in risk. 

“For parents and educators, the discussion around mobile phones and social media has focused on limiting or banning use, but our results indicate more complex factors are involved,” Dr Yunyu Xiao, an assistant professor of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine and first author of the study, said. 

“Testing interventions that work against other types of addiction may be one way to approach this type of social media and mobile phone use.”

Mental health problems in younger people have been on the rise consistently, and the increase in advanced technology has fueled that rise. 

Within the study, the researchers were specifically looking for signs of “addictive use” when it came to the youths’ connection to their devices. These signs included the smart devices impeding on their ability to focus on school, exercise, and withdrawal symptoms when they were without their devices. 

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For mobile phones, around half of the kids reported highly addictive use from the beginning of the study and remained at a high level through their early adolescence. 41% of children had high or increasingly addictive use of social media, which was associated with having a two to three times greater risk of suicidal ideation/behavior. 

“There are many factors that would induce addictive feelings, such as the designs of the social media or video games, some kids may also experience bullying and more adverse childhood that they find using phones more comfortable, but later they cannot stop using it,” Xiao said.

“We do not know if just taking away access will help, unless it is taking away access 24/7, because we know from studies of addiction management that partial access can quickly reinforce the addiction,” he said.

Professor Amy Orben, who leads the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge, said while the study could not fully prove that technology use caused mental health problems, it spotlights a very important issue that has been growing since the start of the digital age. 

“The study importantly highlights that why and how young people use technologies, and how they feel technologies affect their lives, may matter more to their mental health than the time spent online,” she said.

“As those reporting such issues are not a small proportion of the population, supporting them should be taken seriously.”

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Teenage Skincare Routines From Social Media Offer Little Benefits And Could Actually Be Harmful

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New research has shown that skincare routines shared on social media by teenagers actually offer little to no benefit, and could instead increase the risk of skin irritations and the development of allergies in young people.

Dr. Molly Hales and her team conducted the research from Northwestern University. The group stated that there has been a rise in young girls specifically watching, sharing, and taking advice from complicated skin care routines that involve a multitude of unnecessary steps for their young and developing skin. 

Kids are using moisturizers, toners, acne treatments, and anti-aging products in routines that are expensive and potentially harmful. Through analyzing multiple videos on TikTok specifically, the team also found that a majority of these routines are complex and require a lot of time, with some videos showing girls waking up as early as 4:30 am to start getting ready.

“The risks associated with using these products, especially in young girls, far outweighs whatever marginal benefit you may get from using the active ingredients,” Dr. Hales told reporters.

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“The danger is when girls get the message that this is something that they have to do to take care of their skin and to protect their health. These products don’t increase the health of your skin and they probably worsen your skin integrity over time.”

Dr. Hales and her team conducted their research by creating two TikTok accounts that they designed to be like an average 13-year-old’s account. They adjusted their algorithms to gather a sample of 100 skincare routines that were filmed by younger people. 

Of 83 different creators, 82 were girls aged between seven to 18-years-old. “Almost all content creators had clear, light skin without visible blemishes. [The videos] made frequent reference to aspirational beauty ideals that may be tied to whiteness.”

On average, the skincare routines involved six products, were from the same brands, and had a cost of about $168, according to the study. On the more extreme end, some regimens involved more than a dozen products and totaled more than $500.

Dr. Hales stated that it’s recommended that younger people use a gentle cleanser once, maybe twice, a day and then use a sunscreen to protect their skin. 

One of the biggest issues with tweens and teens using excessive amounts of skincare products is that they’re putting active ingredients on their skin that’s not necessary and potentially harmful. The reason they’re using so many of them, however, is because they view the products as trendy and aesthetically pleasing. 

The way influencers are advertising these products emphasizes a message of anti-aging, and is causing teenagers to worry about aging when they’re not even fully developed themselves. 

The study showed that many products contain ingredients like citric acid, which carries a risk for irritation and increased sensitivity to the sun. A lot of the ingredients in skincare products are meant to combat specific skin issues in adults such as hyperpigmentation, acne scarring, sun spots/damage, and more.

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Sunscreen is one of the most important products that everyone can benefit from using. SPF products not only protect the skin from sun damage, but light damage in general, as well as a multitude of issues that people may experience either growing up, or in adulthood. 

However, the team found that only about 26% of the videos they reviewed discussed daytime skincare with the inclusion of sunscreen. 

The more products one uses in their skincare routine, regardless of age, the more likely it is that you’re adding products with the same active ingredients on top of each other, which increases the risk of skin irritation, sensitivity, and vulnerability. 

Among the top 25 videos reviewed in the study, 76% had at least one potential contact allergen, the most common being some sort of fragrance. 

Dr. Tess McPherson, who is a part of the British Association of Dermatologists, was not involved in the study but noted how important it was. She discussed how there has been an increase in young people going to dermatologists for skin irritation.  

“Younger and younger children are seeking skincare products when they don’t need them, they’re not helpful. This is a very concerning statement on society and how we view how skin should look.”

“We’re certainly seeing a huge increase in people wanting something they call perfect or flawless skin, which we know is unachievable [and] unhelpful – it doesn’t make people happy,” she said.

A spokesperson for TikTok told the Guardian: 

“This type of content is common across all media, and the authors admit they did not assess its impact on teen wellbeing. However, they did find actual benefits to teen self-expression, parent-teen bonding, and building a supportive community on TikTok.”

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Meta, Instagram-Parent Company, Sued By Multiple States Over ‘Addictive’ Features And Negative Mental Health Impacts On Youths

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Dozens of states are suing Meta, the parent-company of Instagram, accusing the major tech company of harming young users’ mental health through addictive features, such as infinite news feeds and frequent notifications that demand users’ attention.

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Health Experts Warn Another Covid-19 Surge Could Look Different For Younger People

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Health experts claim that while Covid-19 vaccinations in the US are currently rolling out at a successful rate, not enough individuals are protected in the country to gain a proper herd immunity, and another surge may be on the way if we don’t continue to protect ourselves in the coming months. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that over the weekend more than 4 million vaccine doses were administered in 24 hours, and the nation is currently averaging more than 3 million doses a day. 

However, CDC data also shows that only 18.5% of Americans are fully vaccinated at this point. Dr. Celine Gounder is an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist who recently spoke to the press about how this increase in case numbers is still a major cause for concern even with the rollout of multiple vaccines. 

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“I do think we still have a few more rough weeks ahead. What we know from the past year of the pandemic is that we tend to trend about three to four weeks behind Europe in terms of our pandemic patterns.”

In Europe specifically the highly contagious B117 variant of the virus has caused a major irse in case numbers and hospitalizations. Experts worry the US could face a similar fate if Americans don’t continue to abide by health and safety measures, regardless of if they’re vaccinated or not. 

“What’s worse is that the variant is changing the pandemic’s playbook and could spell trouble for younger groups that haven’t yet been vaccinated. We have to think about the B.1.1.7 variant as almost a brand new virus. It’s acting differently from anything we’ve seen before, in terms of transmissibility, in terms of affecting young people, so we have to take this very seriously,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

More than 54% of Americans 65 and older have been fully vaccinated at this point, according to CDC data, and more than 75% of individuals in that demographic have received their first dose. It’s for this reason that younger groups are being more closely monitored in terms of new cases and hospitalizations. 

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“We’re seeing in places like Michigan that the people who are now getting hospitalized by large numbers are people in their 30s and 40s, and now we’re even seeing children getting infected in larger numbers, too, and it’s not just Michigan. What we’re seeing is pockets of infection around the country, particularly in younger people who haven’t been vaccinated, and also in school-aged children,” former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke at a press conference this past weekend in which he urged all Americans to double down on safety measures to protect themselves and others from the virus and its new variants. 

“We say it over and over again and we need the local people, we need the governors and the mayors and others to be able to say, ‘We’re not out of it yet,’ people say, ‘Well, you just want to confine us forever.’ No, this is not going to last forever because every day that you get four million, three million people vaccinated, you get closer and closer to control,” Fauci said. 

Health experts believe if the entire country stayed indoors for the next six weeks while vaccinations continue, we’re likely be in a much better place by the summer.