Welcome to Email News: Surgeon General says 13 is “too early” to join social media

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01.31.23

Surgeon General says 13 is "too early" to join social media
WHO says Covid-19 remains a global health emergency
FDA rejects two e-cigarette products
FDA proposes new levels for lead in baby food

Surgeon General says 13 is "too early" to join social media

US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says he believes that 13 is too young for children to be on social media platforms, because although sites allow children of that age to join, kids are still "developing their identity."

According to a Pew Research poll, nearly half of US teens say they use the internet "almost constantly," with over 50% of them saying it would be at least somewhat hard to give up social media. Among the most popular sites are YouTube and TikTok.

This popularity has sparked alarm among medical professionals, who point to a growing body of research about the harm social media platforms can cause adolescents.

Murthy acknowledged the difficulties of keeping children off these platforms but suggested that parents can find success by presenting a united front.

"If parents can band together and say, as a group, 'We're not going to allow our kids to use social media until 16 or 17 or 18' or whatever age they choose, that's a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don't get exposed to harm early," Murthy told my colleague Pamela Brown this weekend on CNN Newsroom.

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WHO says Covid-19 remains a global health emergency, but pandemic is at a "transition point"

Covid-19 remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said Monday, but it acknowledged that the pandemic is at a "transition point."

The organization declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in January 2020, about six weeks before characterizing it as a pandemic.

A PHEIC creates an agreement between countries to abide by WHO's recommendations for managing the emergency. Each country, in turn, declares its own public health emergency – declarations that carry legal weight. Countries use them to marshal resources and waive rules in order to ease a crisis.

Here in the United States, President Joe Biden intends to end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the White House said Monday. That means that many Americans could have to start paying for Covid-19 testing and treatment after the declarations cease.

While global Covid-19 deaths are trending upward, the seven-day average remains significantly lower than previous points of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

More on the coronavirus:

Updated boosters are cutting the risk of getting sick from Covid-19 by about half
FDA vaccine advisers vote to harmonize Covid-19 vaccines in the United States
Children lost about 35% of a normal school year's worth of learning during the pandemic, study suggests
Covid-19 is a leading cause of death for children in the US, despite relatively low mortality rate
CDC figuring out "logistical and legal" aspects of testing airplane wastewater for coronavirus variants, source says

FDA rejects two e-cigarette products

The US Food and Drug Administration has issued marketing denial orders for two menthol e-cigarette products marketed by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. The agency said last week that Vuse Vibe Tank Menthol 3.0% and the Vuse Ciro Cartridge Menthol 1.5% should not be marketed or distributed.

"The applications for these products did not present sufficient scientific evidence to show that the potential benefit to adult smokers outweighs the risks of youth initiation and use," said Dr. Brian King, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products.

E-cigarette products have been allowed to be sold in the US for years without regulation, but the FDA asked companies to submit applications to keep their products on the market by September 2020 and has been reviewing these applications since. The agency has been criticized for years for moving too slowly to regulate e-cigarettes.

In 2022, nearly 17% of high school students – or more than 2.14 million high schoolers – reported that they currently used e-cigarettes, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And one out of every 30 middle school students – about 3.3% – said that they used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days. For high schoolers, it was 1 in every 7 students, the CDC said.

Public health experts are concerned about youth use of tobacco products because it can become a lifetime habit. Nearly 9 out of 10 adults who smoke cigarettes daily first try smoking by age 18.

Don't miss: US tobacco control in 2022 gets a mixed review from the American Lung Association

FDA proposes new levels for lead in baby food, but critics say more action is needed

The allowable levels of lead in certain baby and toddler foods should be set at 20 parts per billion or less, according to new draft guidance from the FDA.

"For babies and young children who eat the foods covered in today's draft guidance, the FDA estimates that these action levels could result in as much as a 24-27% reduction in exposure to lead from these foods," FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said.

Foods covered by the proposal – which is now up for public comment – include processed baby foods sold in boxes, jars, pouches and tubs for babies and children younger than 2, the agency said.

Lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury are in the World Health Organization's top 10 chemicals of concern for infants and children.

As natural elements, they are in the soil in which crops are grown and thus can't be avoided. Some crop fields and regions, however, contain more toxic levels than others, partly due to the overuse of metal-containing pesticides and ongoing industrial pollution.

In a few unique communities around the globe, people live long and healthy lives, up to and past 100. Residents of these areas -- dubbed "blue zones" -- share a common environment and lifestyle that scientists believe contribute to their longevity.

But wait, there's more!

Women, older adults and those with lower income are more likely to use sleep medication, survey finds, despite potential health harms
A common nail salon device may cause DNA damage and mutations in human cells, research finds
Weight loss surgery extends lives, study finds
FDA proposal would allow more men who have sex with men to donate blood
Recently identified inflammatory disease VEXAS syndrome may be more common than thought, study suggests

Chasing Life

There is no doubt the news cycle has been difficult recently, with headlines about gun violence and police brutality. It's natural to want to know what's going on in the world, but staying informed also means knowing our stressors and our limits.

Last week, officials in Memphis released video of the violent arrest of Tyre Nichols. Some people might feel duty-bound to watch it as a way to pay tribute to Nichols, who died three days after the confrontation with officers. Other people may even think that by watching the video, they will see something that will explain the behavior.

I watched it Friday along with several medical examiners and experts across the country, and even among professionals whose job it is to review this kind of material, we agreed that it was difficult.

The video might seem hard to avoid online and on social media, but you may need to do so for your own mental health, said Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, who is an expert on racial discrimination and psychological outcomes.

"We have agency over what we ingest. These videos never help us to understand why this would happen," Anderson said.

Research shows that frequent exposure to violent news events can cause negative stress reactions; it can raise a person's sense of anxiety and fear and, in some cases, lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

There are way to bear witness and acknowledge what happened without having to watch the video itself. If you choose to watch, try to have a support system of people to talk to so you can process events. Or look to activism as a way to channel that energy in a way that can make a difference.

Activism itself can also bring exposure to another level of potential violence and trauma, however, so experts say it's important to do something enjoyable that can give yourself a break like dancing, listening to music or being a part of a religious or spiritual community.

It's important to not hold emotions inside, and therapy can be valuable to help process these emotions.

Let's make sure to take care of ourselves and look out for each other during these stressful times.

Remember how awkward and confused you felt as a teen? It's a time of so many big changes – growth spurts, body hair, and acne, just to name a few – but perhaps the most radical transformation is going on inside the adolescent brain.