Category Archives: Factoids


Biopolar diagnosis in USA and Germany


Compared with a teenager in Germany, a teenager in the United States is about how likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder? About forty times as likely See Martin Holtmann and colleagues, “Bipolar disorder in children and adolescents in Germany: national trends in the rates of inpatients, 2000 – 2007,” Bipolar Disorders, volume 12, pp. […]

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AP Computer Science exam rates among girls


In 1987, 34% of students who took the AP Computer Science exam were girls. What proportion of students who took the AP Computer Science exam in 2021 were girls? 25% Or to be precise, 25.4%. In 2016, a total of 74,495 students took the AP Computer Science A exam: of those, 18,918 (25.4%) were female; […]

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Physical Fitness in American Youth


What proportion of American kids 12 to 15 years of age meet minimum standards for physical fitness, based on their ability to walk and run? 42% Over the past decade, rates of obesity have been pretty stable for American kids 6 to 18 years of age. But over the same decade, the fitness of American […]

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Obesity rates among American Children


In 1972, 5% of American children and adolescents were obese. In 2020, what proportion of American children and adolescents were obese? 19.7% For the 1972 data, see Cheryl Fryar and colleagues, “Prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents: United States, trends 1963-1965 through 2009-2010,” published September 13 2012 by the Centers for Disease Control and […]

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ADHD Diagnosis in the UK and USA


Compared with a teenager in the United Kingdom, a teenager in the United States is about how likely to be diagnosed with ADHD? About 14 times as likely The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released figures on the proportion of American children who have been diagnosed with ADHD. Looking across the entire United States, […]

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Female-to-Male ratio taking Spanish Literature AP exam


In 2021, what was the approximate female-to-male ratio among students who took the AP exam in Spanish Literature? 20 girls for every 10 boys To be precise: 14,662 girls took the AP exam in Spanish Literature and Culture, and 7,102 boys, which works out to 20 girls for every 10 boys. For these and other […]

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Prescription Antipsychotic Medications


Compared with children in Italy, children in the United States are about how likely to be on prescription antipsychotic medications such as Risperdal and Seroquel? About 90 times as likely To be precise, about 93 times as likely. The most popular medications now used to control temper tantrums and other acting-out misbehaviors in American kids […]

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