Media Hyperbole

Do not believe most of the reports in the media that tell us there are important changes in health behaviors. A number of media such as ABC News and Health Day tell us that the latest CDC report "America\'s Children, in Brief" highlight increases in teen births and low birth weight. The data do not show this. A 'change of 1 birth/1000 teens is probably nothing more than a statistical fluctuation. What you should look for is changes in five year trends, not single year numbers. However politicians and activists continually take such data out of context while the news media fail to validate the data, usually because the reporters have no training in use and abuse of data.