Marching Band and Other Hazards of High School

Does high school marching band make you sick?

Is nail polish a health hazard?

Do pimples damage teenagers' self-esteem?

Yes, yes and no, say three precocious high-schoolers who were in Washington last weekend with 57 other regional finalists of the Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the College Board.

Top prizes went to Natalia Nazarewicz, an 18-year-old senior at Oak Ridge High School in Tennessee who surveyed more than 1,000 high school students and found that nearly a third had engaged in deliberate self-harm such as cutting or burning their skin. She shared honors with Aman Prasad, an 18-year-old senior from Pocatello, Idaho, who found that vigorous physical activity may offset the effects of minor mood disorders. Each won a $50,000 scholarship.

But three other studies were similarly noteworthy and more redolent of the high school experience.

Heather Stone, who attends Allegany High School in Cumberland, Md., wondered whether high-schoolers in marching band caught colds and other respiratory infections more often than other students. "I noticed that lots of kids were getting sick and that we were marching around in a dust cloud. I wondered if the two were related," said Stone, a four-year member of her school's marching band.

So she monitored 30 band members and 30 non-band students in July and August of 2002. Stone found that 13 band members had colds during the study period, compared with only one non-band member -- a far bigger difference than would be expected by chance alone. Despite the drippy colds, she loved marching band. "It's a great activity," said Stone, who is heading to Smith College in the fall.

Steven Benay, 16, a junior at Smithtown High School West in Smithtown, N.Y., administered a series of questions that psychologists use to measure self-esteem to 257 boys and girls at his high school. They were also asked about their complexions. He found no correlation between acne and self-esteem -- good news to pimple-prone teens, but a result that he acknowledged "was highly inconsistent with previous research."

Michael Ding, 16, a junior at Glen Cove High School in Glen Cove, N.Y., decided on his study topic "after my mother complained about feeling dizzy after using nail polish." Ding found that 59 percent of nail products in three drugstores he canvassed contained ingredients known to be harmful to health. Moreover, one in eight nail products had no list of ingredients, in violation of Food and Drug Administration regulations.

Ding interviewed 239 girls at his high school and found that a third had experienced dizziness, nausea, allergies or headaches after applying nail polish. He also found that a third began painting their nails before they were 6 years old.

Disturbing findings indeed. But, wow, doing research on the health hazards of makeup -- what a cool way to meet girls.