Teen Mental Health and Nutrition Show Modest Gains After Pandemic Decline

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released findings from its 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, revealing that high school students reported fewer persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and a lower share seriously considering suicide compared with 2023. Dietary habits improved, with three-fifths eating vegetables daily and two-fifths eating fruit each day, and sports team involvement rose to 58%. Conversely, daily physical-education class attendance fell to 20% and only 24% of students got eight hours of sleep on school nights, a figure unchanged since 2023.

When compared with 2015, many health metrics—such as loneliness, sleep deprivation, and texting while driving—show little progress or decline. Experts linked the recent gains to post-pandemic recovery efforts, while officials warned that many adolescents still face risky health behaviors that could affect their long-term wellbeing.