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Last updated on Wednesday, June 25, 2014
(UNDATED) - Less cigarette smoking, soda drinking and physical fighting, but more time at computers and other tech devices… that’s the snapshot from the new CDC National Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
The government goal of reducing teen smoking nationally to less than 16 percent has been met, but CDC Director Tom Frieden notes that it's a fragile victory at 15-point-seven percent and it comes with a rise in popularity of e-cigarettes, smoking pens and electronic hookahs.
Frieden's other concerns - condom use had become less common and most teens are still not eating a balanced diet.
While most young people are spending fewer hours watching television they've replaced most of that time spent before a computer beyond school reasons.
Stephanie Zaza is director of adolescent and school health at the CDC and says while they have lots of great data, they do not have the reason why kids do the things they do.
She finds it alarming that 41 percent of teen drivers admit to texting and emailing while driving, and urges parents to step in and stop any behavior that takes a teen's attention away from the road.
The CDC reports that car crashes are the single biggest killer of teens and young adults, causing 23 percent of deaths among 10-to 24-year-olds.
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