A British expat who relocated to Tenerife issued a warning to tourists visiting the popular winter sun destination. Although Tenerife is a beautiful place to visit, it’s essential to be vigilant, especially during the winter months. According to @theknightstrider1 on TikTok, who has lived in Tenerife for 10 years, a particular problem arises every winter…
AN AMERICAN tourist’s dismembered body was found stuffed inside two suitcases after she was allegedly killed by a man she met on a night out.Mackenzie Michalski, who was partying in Budapest, was reported missing before her body was found some 100 miles outside the capital city. 8Mackenzie Michalski was killed during a holiday in BudapestCredit: Collects8Her chopped-up body was found inside two suitcasesCredit: Budapest Metropolitan Police8The 31-year-old nurse from Portland, Oregon, was dumped deep inside a forest near Lake Balaton near Szigliget – a two-hour drive from Budapest. Cops investigating Michalski’s disappearance arrested an Irish man just 24 hours after her friends reported her missing to the authorities. The man, said to be in his 30s, later confessed to killing her while having sex, but claimed it was an accident. A happy Michalski reportedly sent a picture of her enjoying drinks in the Jewish Quarter of Budapest, shortly before she went missing. read more world news CCTV footage later showed the Irishman dancing with her before the couple went to his rented apartment where she was allegedly killed while having sex.He even tried to clean his apartment before dumping inside the suitcases, cops said. They added: “They had gotten intimate, and he killed her in the process.”The perpetrator tried to cover up the murder; he cleaned his apartment and hid the girl’s body in the wardrobe cabinet while he went out to buy a suitcase.”Footage released by the Budapest police department showed the handcuffed man leading the cops to the forest where he allegedly dumped her body. Investigators alleged he made several internet searches after the killing, including “getting rid of the smell of rotting meat”.Chilling Charles Manson phone call as killer admits to murders & ‘leaving bodies on beach’ before assembling ‘family’He also is said to have googled “how reliable is the police in Budapest?”.Authorities are now investigating her cause of death but said it could have been a result of a sex game gone wrong.It comes just days after the ex-boyfriend of Michalski claimed that she had been “beaten, raped and brutally” murdered by the suspect, the DailyMail reports. Kenton Reichen, who was in a relationship with her for six years, had plans to travel to Budapest with her but cancelled at the last minute after the pair went through a sudden breakup. The heartbroken man said he “could have saved her from this” and “protected her”. FAMILY’S LOSSMichalski’s devastated parents are currently in Budapest.Friends and family said in a statement that she will “forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman who dedicated herself to caring for others and making the world a better place”.They added: “We are thankful that Kenzie’s soul is now at peace. Her memory and legacy will endure in the hearts of all whom she’s touched. To understand Kenzie’s spirit is to wholeheartedly embrace the vast joy and wonder of life.”On Saturday night at a candlelit vigil in Budapest, Bill Michalski, her father, told The Associated Press he was ‘still overcome with emotion’.’There was no reason for this to happen. I’m still trying to wrap my arms around what happened’, he added. ‘I don´t know that I ever will.’While struggling to come to terms with his daughter’s death, he revealed that Hungary was her ‘happy place.’Read more on the Scottish Sun’The history, she just loved it and she was just so relaxed here,’ he said. ‘This was her city.’The Department of Foreign Affairs is understood to be aware of the case.8She was reported missing by her friends before cops found her bodyCredit: 29 News8The nurse was seen dancing with an Irishman who has now been arrestedCredit: Collects8Cops investigating her case near the location where her body was foundCredit: Budapest Metropolitan Police8The Irishman, pictured, claimed he killed the woman by accidentCredit: Budapest Metropolitan Police8Friends hold candles while remembering Mackenzie Michalski during a vigilCredit: AP
Over the past three decades, there has been a startling increase in the prevalence of obesity across the USA, at least doubling in adult men and women (aged 25 and older) and older female and male adolescents (aged 15-24 years) since 1990, with the number of people living with overweight and obesity reaching over 208 million in 2021—a trend set to continue in the coming decades without significant reform, according to a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study Collaborator Network, published in The Lancet. Especially high levels of overweight and obesity have already been reached in several US states, with over half (52%) of older adolescent males (aged 15-24 years) in Texas and nearly two-thirds (63%) of older adolescent females in Mississippi living with overweight or obesity in 2021. Similarly, in adults (aged 25 or older), around 80% of men in North Dakota and women in Mississippi were estimated to have overweight or obesity in 2021. The study predicts devastating trends at the population level. The total number of US children and adolescents with overweight and obesity is expected to reach 43.1 million by 2050 (an additional 6.74 million from 2021), and the number of adults 213 million (an additional 41.4 million), underscoring the urgent need for concerted population-wide action to reverse these trends and the stark geographical and sex disparities. “Our analysis lays bare the decades-long failure to tackle the growing overweight and obesity epidemic in the USA. The catastrophic consequences of the surge in overweight and obesity among children are already evident in the rising prevalence of childhood hypertension and type 2 diabetes,” said lead author Professor Emmanuela Gakidou from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, USA. “Overweight and obesity can trigger serious health conditions—many of which are now occurring at younger ages, including diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, cancer, mental health disorders, and even premature death. “The soaring health system and economic costs will be equally pervasive, with over 260 million people in the USA, including over half of all children and adolescents, expected to be living with overweight or obesity by 2050. United efforts and urgent investments are needed to alter these troubling trajectories and ensure a healthier future for current and upcoming generations,” Emmanuela Gakidou said. The new analysis estimated the prevalence of overweight and obesity for children and young adolescents (aged 5-14 years), older adolescents (aged 15-24 years), and adults (aged 25 and older) from 1990 to 2021 with forecasts to 2050 (assuming continuation of past trends and patterns) using 134 unique data sources, including all major national surveillance survey data. The new analysis provides in-depth forecasts, broken down at the state level, as well as by age and sex. Adjustments were made to correct for self-reporting bias. For individuals older than 18 years, overweight was defined as having a BMI of 25 kg/m² to less than 30 kg/m² and obesity was defined as a BMI of 30 kg/m² or higher. For individuals younger than 18 years definitions were based on International Obesity Task Force criteria [1]. 213 million American adults predicted to have overweight or obesity in 2050 Almost three-quarters of the adult population (172 million adults aged 25 or older) in the USA were estimated to be living with overweight or obesity in 2021. The prevalence of obesity rose especially rapidly, doubling between 1990 and 2021 in both adult men (from 18.6% to 41.5%) and women (from 22.8% to 45.6%; see table in Notes to Editors) The estimated prevalence of adult overweight and obesity was high across all states in 2021. In men, levels ranged from 80.6% in North Dakota to 65.3% in Washington DC; while in women, levels ranged from 79.9% in Mississippi to 63.7% in Hawaii (see figures 1C and D in paper.) Continuation of these trends would see overweight and obesity prevalence among adults (age-standardized to allow comparisons between states and over time) rise from an estimated 75.9% in 2021 to around 81.1% for men and from 72.6% to 82.1% for women. This would mean an estimated 41.4 million additional adults living with overweight or obesity by 2050 (raising the total to 213 million, of whom 146 million will have obesity). Concerningly, the prevalence of obesity is projected to increase at a more rapid rate than overweight, and faster among adult men than women. Between 2021 and 2050, the highest rise in obesity prevalence among men is expected in Colorado (up 44.2%) and New Mexico (up 41.2%), and among adult women in Kansas and Colorado (both up 34.9%). However, the highest levels of obesity are expected to remain in the southern states, with around two-thirds of adult men in West Virginia and Kentucky forecast to be living with obesity by 2050, as well as two-thirds of adult women in 12 states, with especially high rates of obesity predicted in Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas and Alabama (both around 69%; see figure 4B in paper). Interestingly, the onset of obesity has become earlier over subsequent generations. For example, approximately two out of five women born in the 1960s were living with obesity at the age of 45, however the same proportion were living with obesity by the age of 30 for women born in the 1980s, and by the age of 20 for women born in 2020 (see figure 5). “Obesity is at a crisis point throughout the USA, with every state challenged to some degree,” said co-author Affiliate Associate Professor Marie Ng from IHME, University of Washington, USA. “Over the past three decades, the country has experienced extensive economic, demographic, and technological transitions that have triggered profound changes to food and agricultural systems, urbanisation, and wealth and educational inequalities together with underlying structural racism that all interact to drive population-wide obesity—whether it be the marketing of unhealthy food products to children, the proliferation of sedentary online activities, or food deserts (neighbourhoods that lack healthy, affordable food options) that are more common in racial and ethnic minority neighbourhoods.” Unprecedented epidemic of childhood and adolescent obesity The new analysis estimates that older adolescent obesity prevalence rose substantially in the USA between 1990 and 2021, more than doubling in both males (from 8.8% to 22.7%) and females (from 10.1% to 28.8% see table in Notes to Editors). In 2021, an estimated 15.1 million children and young adolescents and 21.4 million older adolescents were living with overweight or obesity. However, they impact segments of the American population differently, with older adolescent females (50.8%) experiencing higher prevalence in 2021 than older adolescent males (46.7%), with especially high rates among older adolescent females in Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma (where levels exceeded 59%), and among older adolescent males in Texas and West Virginia (where levels exceeded 52%; Figure 1A and B in paper). The new study predicts that an additional 3.3 million children and young adolescents and 3.41 million older adolescents will be living with overweight or obesity by 2050 (raising the total to 43.1 million, of whom 24 million will have obesity). With the increase in obesity projected to outpace the increase in overweight, around one in five children and at least one in three adolescents are expected to be living with obesity in 2050. The rising tide of adolescent obesity is projected to reach the highest levels among older adolescent males in Oklahoma (43%), Mississippi (39.8%) and West Virginia (37.7%) in 2050, and affect at least half of older adolescent females living in Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Alabama (see figure 4A). However, the largest numbers of older adolescents with obesity will continue to be in California (1.53 million) and Texas (1.49 million) in 2050. Associate Professor Ng said: “The mechanisms behind the rising obesity prevalence are much more complex than just a matter of excessive energy intake and physical inactivity.” “Existing interventions which focus on lifestyle-based behavioural changes do not produce sufficient and sustainable reductions in overweight and obesity, especially among children and adolescents,” Ng said. “Addressing the structural drivers of population obesity and emphasising prevention must be central to any future strategies. Future interventions also need to account for societal shifts in acceptance of obesity, alongside tailoring solutions by sex and for states with high obesity rates,” Ng said. Population-level prevention and a cross-government strategy key to tackling obesity crisis The analysis notes that while anti-obesity medications like glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have a place in obesity management, they alone will not be enough to solve the obesity epidemic. As Associate Professor Ng explains: “Given the predicted surge in overweight and obesity, demand for anti-obesity medication will definitely increase, but it is not a silver bullet. With concern surrounding prohibitive costs and equitable access, together with varying effectiveness and potentially serious side-effects, prevention will remain a primary strategy.” The authors stress that prevention needs to become a much more dominant focus of obesity control and that any policies aiming to tackle the obesity crisis must be a priority at federal and state governments and backed by high-level political commitment. They should also be comprehensive, reaching individuals across the life course and targeting inequalities. For example, given that obesity is intergenerational, the authors say that intervention needs to begin with pregnant women and early feeding practices. “Rather than relying on individual agency, stronger governance is needed to support and implement a multifaceted whole-system approach to radically disrupt the structural drivers of overweight and obesity at both national and community levels, as well as within households and schools,” said Professor Gakidou. “Federal policymakers must look beyond short-term political goals to target policy interventions not just within the health sector, for example ensuring all children have access to nutritious primary school meals and that there is greater regulation of junk food marketing.” She added: “Above all, reversing the US obesity epidemic will rely on the government supporting programmes that increase levels of physical activity, such as investing in safe and walkable neighbourhoods, guaranteeing the availability of healthy food to children and adolescents, regulating the food and marketing industries, and achieving environmentally sustainable food systems.” The authors note some important limitations, including that while the study uses the best available data, predictions are constrained by the quality and availability of data, and for that reason, they were unable to estimate the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity at the state level. They also note that the definition of overweight and obesity is based on BMI, which might not account for variations in body structure across the population, and that they did not examine racial and ethnic disparities in obesity. Finally, past trends are not always predictive of what will happen in the future, and some factors, like the recent surge in the use of GLP-1 anti-obesity medications could alter the longer-term forecasting trends of overweight and obesity.
Over the past three decades, there has been a startling increase in the prevalence of obesity across the USA, at least doubling in adult men and women (aged 25 and older) and older female and male adolescents (aged 15-24 years) since 1990, with the number of people living with overweight and obesity reaching over 208 million in 2021—a trend set to continue in the coming decades without significant reform, according to a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study Collaborator Network, published in The Lancet. Especially high levels of overweight and obesity have already been reached in several US states, with over half (52%) of older adolescent males (aged 15-24 years) in Texas and nearly two-thirds (63%) of older adolescent females in Mississippi living with overweight or obesity in 2021. Similarly, in adults (aged 25 or older), around 80% of men in North Dakota and women in Mississippi were estimated to have overweight or obesity in 2021. The study predicts devastating trends at the population level. The total number of US children and adolescents with overweight and obesity is expected to reach 43.1 million by 2050 (an additional 6.74 million from 2021), and the number of adults 213 million (an additional 41.4 million), underscoring the urgent need for concerted population-wide action to reverse these trends and the stark geographical and sex disparities. “Our analysis lays bare the decades-long failure to tackle the growing overweight and obesity epidemic in the USA. The catastrophic consequences of the surge in overweight and obesity among children are already evident in the rising prevalence of childhood hypertension and type 2 diabetes,” said lead author Professor Emmanuela Gakidou from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, USA. “Overweight and obesity can trigger serious health conditions—many of which are now occurring at younger ages, including diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, cancer, mental health disorders, and even premature death. “The soaring health system and economic costs will be equally pervasive, with over 260 million people in the USA, including over half of all children and adolescents, expected to be living with overweight or obesity by 2050. United efforts and urgent investments are needed to alter these troubling trajectories and ensure a healthier future for current and upcoming generations,” Emmanuela Gakidou said. The new analysis estimated the prevalence of overweight and obesity for children and young adolescents (aged 5-14 years), older adolescents (aged 15-24 years), and adults (aged 25 and older) from 1990 to 2021 with forecasts to 2050 (assuming continuation of past trends and patterns) using 134 unique data sources, including all major national surveillance survey data. The new analysis provides in-depth forecasts, broken down at the state level, as well as by age and sex. Adjustments were made to correct for self-reporting bias. For individuals older than 18 years, overweight was defined as having a BMI of 25 kg/m² to less than 30 kg/m² and obesity was defined as a BMI of 30 kg/m² or higher. For individuals younger than 18 years definitions were based on International Obesity Task Force criteria [1]. 213 million American adults predicted to have overweight or obesity in 2050 Almost three-quarters of the adult population (172 million adults aged 25 or older) in the USA were estimated to be living with overweight or obesity in 2021. The prevalence of obesity rose especially rapidly, doubling between 1990 and 2021 in both adult men (from 18.6% to 41.5%) and women (from 22.8% to 45.6%; see table in Notes to Editors) The estimated prevalence of adult overweight and obesity was high across all states in 2021. In men, levels ranged from 80.6% in North Dakota to 65.3% in Washington DC; while in women, levels ranged from 79.9% in Mississippi to 63.7% in Hawaii (see figures 1C and D in paper.) Continuation of these trends would see overweight and obesity prevalence among adults (age-standardized to allow comparisons between states and over time) rise from an estimated 75.9% in 2021 to around 81.1% for men and from 72.6% to 82.1% for women. This would mean an estimated 41.4 million additional adults living with overweight or obesity by 2050 (raising the total to 213 million, of whom 146 million will have obesity). Concerningly, the prevalence of obesity is projected to increase at a more rapid rate than overweight, and faster among adult men than women. Between 2021 and 2050, the highest rise in obesity prevalence among men is expected in Colorado (up 44.2%) and New Mexico (up 41.2%), and among adult women in Kansas and Colorado (both up 34.9%). However, the highest levels of obesity are expected to remain in the southern states, with around two-thirds of adult men in West Virginia and Kentucky forecast to be living with obesity by 2050, as well as two-thirds of adult women in 12 states, with especially high rates of obesity predicted in Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas and Alabama (both around 69%; see figure 4B in paper). Interestingly, the onset of obesity has become earlier over subsequent generations. For example, approximately two out of five women born in the 1960s were living with obesity at the age of 45, however the same proportion were living with obesity by the age of 30 for women born in the 1980s, and by the age of 20 for women born in 2020 (see figure 5). “Obesity is at a crisis point throughout the USA, with every state challenged to some degree,” said co-author Affiliate Associate Professor Marie Ng from IHME, University of Washington, USA. “Over the past three decades, the country has experienced extensive economic, demographic, and technological transitions that have triggered profound changes to food and agricultural systems, urbanisation, and wealth and educational inequalities together with underlying structural racism that all interact to drive population-wide obesity—whether it be the marketing of unhealthy food products to children, the proliferation of sedentary online activities, or food deserts (neighbourhoods that lack healthy, affordable food options) that are more common in racial and ethnic minority neighbourhoods.” Unprecedented epidemic of childhood and adolescent obesity The new analysis estimates that older adolescent obesity prevalence rose substantially in the USA between 1990 and 2021, more than doubling in both males (from 8.8% to 22.7%) and females (from 10.1% to 28.8% see table in Notes to Editors). In 2021, an estimated 15.1 million children and young adolescents and 21.4 million older adolescents were living with overweight or obesity. However, they impact segments of the American population differently, with older adolescent females (50.8%) experiencing higher prevalence in 2021 than older adolescent males (46.7%), with especially high rates among older adolescent females in Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma (where levels exceeded 59%), and among older adolescent males in Texas and West Virginia (where levels exceeded 52%; Figure 1A and B in paper). The new study predicts that an additional 3.3 million children and young adolescents and 3.41 million older adolescents will be living with overweight or obesity by 2050 (raising the total to 43.1 million, of whom 24 million will have obesity). With the increase in obesity projected to outpace the increase in overweight, around one in five children and at least one in three adolescents are expected to be living with obesity in 2050. The rising tide of adolescent obesity is projected to reach the highest levels among older adolescent males in Oklahoma (43%), Mississippi (39.8%) and West Virginia (37.7%) in 2050, and affect at least half of older adolescent females living in Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Alabama (see figure 4A). However, the largest numbers of older adolescents with obesity will continue to be in California (1.53 million) and Texas (1.49 million) in 2050. Associate Professor Ng said: “The mechanisms behind the rising obesity prevalence are much more complex than just a matter of excessive energy intake and physical inactivity.” “Existing interventions which focus on lifestyle-based behavioural changes do not produce sufficient and sustainable reductions in overweight and obesity, especially among children and adolescents,” Ng said. “Addressing the structural drivers of population obesity and emphasising prevention must be central to any future strategies. Future interventions also need to account for societal shifts in acceptance of obesity, alongside tailoring solutions by sex and for states with high obesity rates,” Ng said. Population-level prevention and a cross-government strategy key to tackling obesity crisis The analysis notes that while anti-obesity medications like glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have a place in obesity management, they alone will not be enough to solve the obesity epidemic. As Associate Professor Ng explains: “Given the predicted surge in overweight and obesity, demand for anti-obesity medication will definitely increase, but it is not a silver bullet. With concern surrounding prohibitive costs and equitable access, together with varying effectiveness and potentially serious side-effects, prevention will remain a primary strategy.” The authors stress that prevention needs to become a much more dominant focus of obesity control and that any policies aiming to tackle the obesity crisis must be a priority at federal and state governments and backed by high-level political commitment. They should also be comprehensive, reaching individuals across the life course and targeting inequalities. For example, given that obesity is intergenerational, the authors say that intervention needs to begin with pregnant women and early feeding practices. “Rather than relying on individual agency, stronger governance is needed to support and implement a multifaceted whole-system approach to radically disrupt the structural drivers of overweight and obesity at both national and community levels, as well as within households and schools,” said Professor Gakidou. “Federal policymakers must look beyond short-term political goals to target policy interventions not just within the health sector, for example ensuring all children have access to nutritious primary school meals and that there is greater regulation of junk food marketing.” She added: “Above all, reversing the US obesity epidemic will rely on the government supporting programmes that increase levels of physical activity, such as investing in safe and walkable neighbourhoods, guaranteeing the availability of healthy food to children and adolescents, regulating the food and marketing industries, and achieving environmentally sustainable food systems.” The authors note some important limitations, including that while the study uses the best available data, predictions are constrained by the quality and availability of data, and for that reason, they were unable to estimate the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity at the state level. They also note that the definition of overweight and obesity is based on BMI, which might not account for variations in body structure across the population, and that they did not examine racial and ethnic disparities in obesity. Finally, past trends are not always predictive of what will happen in the future, and some factors, like the recent surge in the use of GLP-1 anti-obesity medications could alter the longer-term forecasting trends of overweight and obesity.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces CHIPS Incentives Award with TSMC Arizona to Secure U.S. Leadership in Advanced Semiconductor Technology – Technology Today – EIN Presswire
Biden-Harris Administration Announces CHIPS Incentives Award with TSMC Arizona to Secure U.S. Leadership in Advanced Semiconductor Technology – Technology Today – EIN Presswire
Michael Nave, former senior director of product engineering at General Dynamics‘ ordnance and tactical systems, has joined Repkon USA -Defense as chief technology officer, the executive announced in a LinkedIn post.
He joined GD-OTS in 2019 as director of engineering and was elevated to his most recent post in 2021, taking responsibilities for all product engineering activities for the Medium Caliber Ammunition group. He also provided technical direction for all PE modeling and analysis activities.
Previously, Nave served as systems integration business development manager for the Reconnaissance and Targeting Systems Electro-Optics and Infrared product line in the land warfare systems segment of Raytheon Missile Systems.
The executive, before moving to Raytheon, spent several years at Northrop Grumman holding roles of increasing responsibilities, including senior business development manager and advanced development senior engineering manager.
Earlier in his career, Nave served as a program manager at GD-OTS.
[embedded content]
Michael Nave, former senior director of product engineering at General Dynamics‘ ordnance and tactical systems, has joined Repkon USA -Defense as chief technology officer, the executive announced in a LinkedIn post.
He joined GD-OTS in 2019 as director of engineering and was elevated to his most recent post in 2021, taking responsibilities for all product engineering activities for the Medium Caliber Ammunition group. He also provided technical direction for all PE modeling and analysis activities.
Previously, Nave served as systems integration business development manager for the Reconnaissance and Targeting Systems Electro-Optics and Infrared product line in the land warfare systems segment of Raytheon Missile Systems.
The executive, before moving to Raytheon, spent several years at Northrop Grumman holding roles of increasing responsibilities, including senior business development manager and advanced development senior engineering manager.
Earlier in his career, Nave served as a program manager at GD-OTS.
[embedded content]
I recognize I usually start with some kind of funny story or joke, but this is definitely not one. It’s a simple question: Has any policy ever looked more politically dunderheaded in immediate hindsight than the Democratic Party’s obsession with student loan forgiveness? With attempting to bestow a half-trillion-dollar benefit on people who attended – and often graduated from – college when a majority of Americans – and an overwhelming majority of voters who needed to be convinced that Democrats aren’t a bunch of elitist twits – did not? And without any track record on – or substantive new proposals for – alternatives to college like apprenticeships?
But I’ve talked about all this for years and don’t want to dwell on the election. I want to talk about something I saw on a recent cross-country flight: a passenger across the aisle staring at the flight map for what seemed like the entire duration – no movie, phone, music, rest, snacks, or bathroom. I subsequently learned this wasn’t simply inertia or lack of imagination. It’s a new phenomenon called “rawdogging” where travelers – mostly young men – test their stamina for… nothing, then brag about it: “Just rawdogged a 7-hour flight (new personal best) no headphones, no movie, no water, nothing, The power of my mind knows no bounds.”
Aside from creating media opportunities for mindfulness coaches to comment and alarming New York Post headlines (“Rawdogging a flight could kill you”), rawdogging seems to have attracted attention because it’s the polar opposite of how we live. Even in the few seconds on an elevator or in line to pay, we instinctively reach for our phones. But if the point is digital detox, those of us in the world of education must also wonder why anyone would rather do zilch than read a book.
I don’t mean this as a “get off my lawn” kind of thing, but I can’t remember the last time I saw a young man reading a book on a plane. One possibility is they can’t. Only 30% of eighth graders are capable of reading independently at grade level. The percentage of 13-year-olds who report reading for fun “almost every day” is only 14%, cut in half in a decade. And in 2022, only 11% of high school seniors said they read at least six books for fun in the past year. While pandemic school closures gave rise to falling literacy rates, the central culprit is decades of reading curricula that disregarded foundational reading skills.
This also isn’t a “Make Education Great Again” kind of thing, hearkening back to a mythical past when students did all their reading. They never have. A generation ago, one study reported only 20% of college students regularly completed assigned reading. And as Rose Horowitch noted in The Atlantic, twenty years before that, a literature professor wrote that every generation “discovers that students cannot read as well as they would like or as well as professors expect.”
But since, presumably, most young adults flying coast-to-coast fall into the minority with requisite technical skills, something else is at play. In recent months, we’ve seen articles in Slate, The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Atlantic full of faculty anecdotes about how students no longer know how to read books. Incoming college students are less likely to identify works of literature as favorite books, instead referencing young adult books like the Percy Jackson series. And when reading is assigned – even at highly selective institutions – the results are increasingly disappointing. One Columbia professor’s students “seem bewildered by the thought of finishing multiple books a semester.” They tell him at the start of the course that “the reading load feels impossible.” Within this marsh of reading mopishness, the one story where a professor doesn’t have difficulty getting students to read assigned books involves a course on failure where the learning objective is to face problems rather than avoid them.
The elephant in the (reading) room, of course, is social media. Although social media may not be harming mental health, it is having an awful impact on attention span. TikTok and YouTube train our kids’ brains to expect positive stimulus + resulting dopamine hit within seconds. Once they get it – or determine it’s not forthcoming – they scroll to the next algorithmically-served-up video. And when they’re handed a book, kids who spend hours scrolling TikTok every day are more distracted than kids who don’t. Sadly, there are few abstainers; teens now spend about five hours each day on social media. And it goes without saying that one reason for rawdogging is to report it on social media – one more thing for young male followers to watch instead of read.
In sum, children’s current level of exposure to algorithmic content is not a recipe for producing a generation of readers. They’ve become accustomed to seeking rewards they simply won’t get from the next paragraph (let alone this humdrum one).
It’s not only kids. Distracted parents are bad role models because we’re reading less as well. That may not be catastrophic for adults. As Adam Kotsko, a professor at Chicago’s Shimer College, noted in Slate:
I once found myself boasting at a faculty meeting that I had read through my entire hourlong train ride without looking at my phone. My colleagues agreed this was a major feat, one they had not achieved recently. Even if I rarely attain that high level of focus, though, I am able to “turn it on” when demanded, for instance to plow through a big novel during a holiday break. That’s because I was able to develop and practice those skills of extended concentration and attentive reading before the intervention of the smartphone. For children who were raised with smartphones, by contrast, that foundation is missing.
With their phones and TikTok accounts, our children are growing up in a “distractogenic” environment, meaning extremely conducive to distraction and short attention spans. Because we’re almost as unlikely to successfully change the digital environment as our biology, the only lever within our reach is behavior. But that’s far from a lost cause. Just as athletes train to achieve superior performance – for some, without regard to their environment or even biology – it’s within every child’s reach to build a sufficient (or even superior) attention span. They just need enough training and practice.
Unfortunately, American education hasn’t adapted. In fact, it’s doing the opposite. Evidence is mounting that fewer whole books are being assigned in middle and high school, and the books that are assigned tend to be shorter. For example, the English teacher at Connecticut’s South Windsor High School who no longer assigns all of To Kill a Mockingbird, but rather asks students to read a synopsis and a third of the book. Or the Columbia student cited by Horowitch who’d never been required to read an entire book in high school.
One cause of our book drought is President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind K-12 reform which prioritized standardized tests where students need to read short passages and answer questions to demonstrate comprehension. So schools subsequently shifted to same-style assignments. And as one teacher told Horowitch, “There’s no testing skill that can be related to … Can you sit down and read Tolstoy?”
Ironically, the latest twist of the knife comes from the political left and perceived new curricular priorities. Adding media literacy to English, for example, has led to assigning various shorter texts. And each assignment of a passage or article means fewer books, like the Illinois high school teacher who themed her English course around decision making and, instead of having students read The Odyssey, assigned excerpts along with articles, music, and other media.
This push for media literacy and the need to “explore representation and power through critical reading, listening and viewing” and provide texts and learning activities in English classrooms that are more “culturally responsive… [in order to] reduce prejudice through developing critical questioning and cultural competence” led to a 2022 statement from the National Council of Teachers of English arguing for “the need to move beyond the exclusive focus on traditional reading and writing competencies” and concluding that “the time has come to decenter book reading and essay-writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education.”
Initiatives on the right and left have combined to leave high school graduates less prepared to read books. So how have colleges responded? Rather than redoubling efforts to build missing reading muscles, colleges are assigning fewer books. Horowitch reports on the Berkeley course where The Iliad has been replaced by chapters and the Columbia Melville course that has abandoned Moby Dick in favor of shorter works.
Collleges and universities already recognize that students with digitally-determined attention spans can’t handle entire books. But instead of meeting the problem head on, they’re attempting to meet students where they are. As a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology told the Chronicle of Higher Education, she’s always attempted to meet her students “where they are,” but if she goes any further “she’ll feel like a cruise director organizing games of shuffleboard.” It’s nothing less than an abdication of responsibility. As Kotsko wrote in Slate, young Americans aren’t simply “choosing TikTok over Jane Austen. They are being deprived of the ability to choose.”
Admittedly, data on book assignments remains anecdotal. But one reason it rings true – and why hard evidence is likely to emerge – is that it’s highly consistent with the post-Covid approach to completing and grading assignments. Schools are increasingly reluctant to set and/or enforce deadlines. What’s more, many are adopting equitable grading practices with minimum grades set at 50% instead of zero.
Meeting kids where they are isn’t doing them any favors. Just as working professionals need to be able to read without getting distracted, they also need to meet deadlines. And as far as I know, there are no minimum grades in the world of work.
Teachers should be teaching students to respect and meet deadlines. And if they’re not going to address our social-media-induced reading crisis by assigning more books to build attention-span muscles, the least they can do is to stop posting TikTok videos about how students can’t read. That’s adding insult to injury.
I don’t buy that it could be a good thing that we’re entering into what some experts are calling a “hybrid oral-written culture.” Beyond attention span, there are more than a few casualties when we lose the ability to read books. For example, seeing the world from other perspectives i.e., empathy. Or evaluating (or even valuing) expertise. Or assessing character, particularly characters who may be more or less than they appear. Or the ability to follow a plot more complex than a WWE match, reality show, or infomercial.
But instead of the above – which tend to be useful in making important decisions – we’re scrolling and flipping, distracted like an electorate rejecting an unpopular incumbent out of hand, where rawdogging young men appear to have played an outsized role. Putting aside its Ahab-like fixation on the great white whale of student loan forgiveness, by “decentering” book reading in the age of social media – by assenting to turn the page on books – what was once the party of the working class somehow lost the plot. But like I said, I don’t want to talk about the election.
A friend of mine, 52 years old and full of energy, recently shared a conversation that stopped me in my tracks. She had just embarked on an exciting journey of starting her own business; a leap she’d been dreaming of for years. Then in one of her meetings, her web designer asked her, “Aren’t you afraid you’re too old to do this?”
The question wasn’t just surprising; it was frustrating. The underlying assumption is one we hear too often: that entrepreneurship is a young person’s game. But let me be clear – there is plenty of room for us in the entrepreneurial world, regardless of age.
Age Is Not a Barrier to Innovation
This conversation reflects a broader societal misconception that youth equals innovation and ambition. But the truth? Starting a business at 50+ often brings advantages that younger entrepreneurs simply don’t have:
Experience: A lifetime of personal and professional lessons means you’re starting with a deep well of knowledge.
Resilience: You’ve navigated life’s ups and downs and come out stronger. You know how to pivot and persevere.
Clarity: By midlife, you understand what you’re passionate about and have the confidence to pursue it unapologetically.
Starting a business at 50+ isn’t a gamble; it’s a strategic move.
Why Age Should Be Celebrated in Business
Entrepreneurship isn’t just about building a business; it’s about solving problems, meeting needs, and creating value. These skills don’t have an age limit. In fact, research shows that entrepreneurs over 50 are more likely to succeed than their younger counterparts.
Why? Because they bring wisdom, perspective, and practical know-how to the table. They’ve spent decades honing skills, building networks, and understanding how the world works.
Challenging the Stereotype
My friend’s response to the web designer was as bold as she is: “Why should I be afraid? My age is my advantage.”
And she’s absolutely right.
Entrepreneurship is not a club reserved for the young and trendy. It’s a space for anyone with a vision, determination, and the courage to take risks. The world needs the businesses and ideas that only people with our level of experience can create.
For women, especially, starting a business later in life is a way to reclaim power, purpose, and financial independence. It’s a chance to step into the spotlight and show that success has no expiration date.
Room for All of Us
There’s a dangerous myth that the entrepreneurial world is overcrowded, that there’s only so much room, and it’s already filled with 20-somethings in hoodies creating tech startups.
Let me tell you something: there’s room for all of us.
The entrepreneurial world thrives on diversity – of ideas, backgrounds, perspectives, and, yes, ages. The more varied the players, the stronger the game. Women over 50 bring something unique and irreplaceable to the table.
If You’re Asking Yourself, “Am I Too Old?”
Let my friend’s story serve as a reminder: The only person who can decide if you’re too old to start something new is you. Age is not a limitation; it’s an asset.
Ask yourself this instead:
Do I have an idea I believe in?
Am I willing to put in the work?
Do I want to live the next chapter of my life with passion and purpose?
If the answer is yes, then it’s time to start.
Moving Forward
The bottom line is that conversation with her web designer was a wake-up call for my friend, and, frankly, for me too. It reminded me how important it is to challenge these stereotypes and support each other in breaking through them.
Let’s flip the narrative. Let’s show the world that the 50s (and beyond) are the perfect time to start something new, create something meaningful, and leave a lasting impact.
The entrepreneurial world is not just for the young; it’s for the bold. It’s for the dreamers. And there’s plenty of room for us.