Teens Aren't Going To Parties Anymore. Should We Be Concerned?

Just how worried should we be about the decline in parties? PLUS: What to know about teens and protein supplements, and why "manosphere" content is so appealing to some boys.

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• I’m Christopher Pepper, an award-winning health educator and journalist. During the week, I send out editions of my Teen Health Today newsletter that are free for all to read - the most recent is California: "We Need To Help Our Boys and Young Men"

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In this edition:

• Teens Are Trying To Bulk Up On Protein Supplements. What Should Parents Watch For?

• The Death of Partying In The U.S.A.—And Why It Matters

• Childcare Is A Hellscape For Most U.S. Families. Why Isn’t There A Bigger Push For Change?

• Why ‘Manosphere’ Content Is Appealing To Some Young Men

• Study: Kids Suffer As Nearly Half Of U.S. Families Struggle to Meet Basic Needs

• More Than 1 in 4 Trans People Live In States With 'Bathroom Bans'

• Teen Artists Portrayed Their Lives — Some Adults Didn't Want To See The Full Picture

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Photo by Lachlan Thompson on Unsplash

Teens Are Trying To Bulk Up On Protein Supplements. What Should Parents Watch For? (NPR)

By Yuki Noguchi: Emiliano Slesaransky, 17, joined Santa Monica High School's football team as a freshman and — at the urging of coaches and teammates— started hitting the gym whenever possible: in the morning, after school and on the weekends. The people he met there would share their strategies for bulking up.

"They would take protein powders, other supplements like some people I know take ashwagandha, and maybe creatine," he says, citing popular energy and exercise-enhancing supplements. Emiliano started taking some of them, too.

But his dad, Eduardo Slesaransky, wanted to make sure his son's diet — and attitude — remained balanced: "My concern was the influence that social media has on these supplements and these kinds of things and the culture of bodybuilding and the gyms." READ MORE/LISTEN

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