This Just In

A roundup of new and noteworthy insights from the week’s most talked-about studies:

1 TEEN BIRTH RATES ARE AT AN ALL-TIME LOW

The number of U.S. births in 2016 by mothers ages 15 to 19 declined by 9% from the previous year to 20.3 births per 1,000 teen women, the lowest rate ever recorded, according to the CDC.

2 PETS IN AMERICA ARE GETTING FATTER

About one-third of all cats and dogs in the U.S. are too heavy, according to a new report from the Banfield Pet Hospital, which found that over the past decade the number of overweight cats has jumped by 169% and the number of overweight dogs has risen by 158%.

3 PEOPLE ARE LESS HELPFUL WHEN IT’S HOT

Research in the European Journal of Social Psychology found that people are less service-minded in uncomfortably hot spaces. In one of the study’s scenarios, retail employees were 50% less likely to engage in behavior like offering to help customers when the stores were hot.

–J.Z.