Nic Covey, Director of Insights for The Nielsen Company, recently presented and participated in a panel discussion at the European Journalism Centre’s “Innovation in Youth Media and Next Generation Classroom” event.

In their heads, American teens know that leading a healthy lifestyle is important, but does that awareness always translate to a healthy body? According to a study from Scarborough Research, 92 percent percent of teens aged 13-17 say that health and a healthy lifestyle are important and when asked to give themselves a “health report card,” 76 percent of teens gave a grade of B- or higher.
“While this self-awareness of how they rate their healthy living seems to contradict statistics on
child and teen obesity published by the CDC and other …

The notion that teens are too busy texting and Twittering to be engaged with traditional media is exciting, but false. To develop the best strategy around teens and media, start by challenging popular assumptions about teens.

David Martin, Vice President, Primary Research / Sue MacDonald, Research Manager
You’ve probably heard of the Morgan Stanley report that declares “teenagers do not use Twitter,” based on a sample size of one 15 year-old intern named Matthew Robson. Morgan Stanley rightfully disclosed that they do not claim that his study is representational or merits statistical accuracy, so we thought we could provide both with our NetRatings panel of 250,000 U.S. Internet users.
Twitter’s footprint has expanded impressively in the first half of 2009, reaching 10.7 percent of all active Internet users …

Nic Covey, director of insights for The Nielsen Company posed the question at the annual What Teens Want Conference. Experts from Brandweek, Marvel Comics, The Hollywood Reporter, and Microsoft’s Massive discussed texting, gaming, comic books, movies and more. Learn more about Nielsen’s research on teen media habits in the just-released How Teens Use Media report.

It’s 2009: Do you know where your kids are?
They might be on the Internet, or gaming or texting… but they could also be be watching live TV, listening to the radio or reading a newspaper. At the annual What Teens Want conference in New York, The Nielsen Company presented How Teens Use Media, which argues once you look past the hype – American teens are not as alien in their media usage as you might expect. Sure, it might sound hip and trendy to suggest they’re too busy texting, Twittering …

Upon Apple’s announcement of a new iPhone – the iPhone 3G S, slated to be available June 19 – Nielsen takes a look at iPhone insights on its users and usage.

As of April 2009, Nielsen estimates that there are 6.4 million active iPhone users in the U.S., up from 2.1 million a year prior. The most impactful iPhone announcement this week may be the price reduction of $99 for the 8 GB version: cost has been one factor (in addition to AT&T exclusivity) that’s kept the …

The shopping mall has been a destination for American teens for decades.  It has become “Main Street” in many communities, and is a convenient place for teens to meet friends and hang out.  According to a new report from Scarborough Research, teen mall shoppers are still spending significant time and money at the mall: 68 percent spend two or more hours at the mall ont heir typical visit, and more than a quarter spend upwards of three hours.  More than half of teens (56%) spent $50 or more on their …

Given the immense popularity of texting in the U.S. and abroad, it’s not surprising that marketers have been ramping up their use of the medium to engage their customers. According to Nielsen, 16% of texters in the U.S. see some form of text-message advertising each month. Not surprisingly, teens are the most likely to engage with short-code marketing—35% see some form of text-message advertising in the course of a month. African-American and Hispanic mobile subscribers are also more likely than the average texter to engage with some form of text-message …

Television viewing and online video streaming go hand in hand — with the heaviest Internet users also watching the most TV, Nielsen reported Friday.
Internet users who rank among the top fifth in terms of time spent online also watch more than 250 minutes of television each day, according to Nielsen. In comparison, people who don’t use the Internet at all watch just 220 minutes of TV per day.
The data comes from Nielsen’s new TV/Internet Convergence Panel, which measures both TV and Internet usage within individual U.S. households. The panel consists …