20+ Health Research Topics for High School Students

Are you a high school student passionate about healthcare, wellness, or the science behind medicine? Then, working on a health-based research topic can be a great opportunity to learn something new! Engaging in health research in high school can help you learn about and help address real-world challenges while building research, writing, and data analysis skills. It is also an opportunity to develop a tangible project that reflects your knowledge and skills.

To help make your research project stand out, we have come up with a list of 20+ health research topics for high school students! 

Whether you are interested in biology, psychology, ethics, or public health, our blog features topics that align with your interests and resources. We have prioritized ideas that you can pursue through school surveys, interviews, or observational studies, even without access to a lab! The goal here is to help you get started on your research without worrying about securing access to expensive or exclusive resources.

Public health and safety

Public health primarily focuses on preventing disease and promoting health at the community and/or population level. It includes topics like first aid, disease control, vaccination, health education, and environmental safety. Pursuing research in this area will help you learn how to design and conduct surveys, assess data, and evaluate how educational interventions can work.

Here are a few research ideas to consider:

1. How effective are different first-aid techniques for treating minor injuries in school settings?

Read up on some common first-aid methods, such as using ice, applying pressure to stop bleeding, or bandaging. Observe or survey which methods students or staff use most often, and research their medical effectiveness for typical injuries like sprains or cuts.

2. Does basic CPR training improve confidence and response readiness among high school students?

Conduct a survey on student confidence levels or knowledge retention before and after they attend a short CPR workshop. You could also test basic skill application using dummy simulations (if available at your school).

3. Are school handwashing habits sufficient to prevent illness outbreaks?

Survey students on handwashing frequency and timing (e.g., after bathroom use and before eating). Compare this data to health guidelines, and correlate findings with attendance records during the cold/flu season.

4. Explore the relationship, if any, between indoor air quality and student respiratory health.

Measure CO₂ levels or ventilation conditions in various classrooms (with school permission). Collect anonymous health complaints about asthma, allergies, or headaches and look for patterns.

5. Do school counselors help reduce stress in high-pressure academic environments?

Conduct a survey, asking students about their stress levels and frequency of counselor visits. Then, you can look for trends in whether access to mental health support correlates with perceived well-being.

Nutrition and lifestyle medicine

Every day we are discovering more and more about how daily habits like eating, sleeping, exercising, and screen use can affect not just physical health, but also mental health. Research in lifestyle medicine is especially relevant to teens, as adolescence is a critical time for forming lifelong health patterns. Here are a few topics you can consider:

6. Are school cafeteria meals aligned with national nutrition guidelines for teenagers?

Analyze the nutritional content (calories, protein, sugar, etc.) of cafeteria menus and compare it with the USDA recommendations for adolescent diets. You can use available meal planning data or ask your school nutritionist.

7. Does skipping breakfast affect student focus and academic performance?

Survey students about their breakfast habits and compare self-reported focus levels as well as performance on tests/quizzes. You can try to convince your class to change their breakfast habits for a duration and do a before/after comparison. Consider adding teacher observations for more robust data.

8. What is the link between after-school screen time and sleep quality?

Ask students to track their screen use in the evening and sleep patterns for one week, including the duration and quality of sleep, as well as the number of times they wake up, if at all. You can use a simple survey tool to create a habit log for the screen use and sleep app data (if available) to get insights into the sleep patterns. Then, you can analyze whether higher screen time is associated with less or poorer sleep.

9. Can hydration improve memory recall and classroom participation?

Run a small experiment where students increase water intake for a week and compare quiz scores or conduct memory tests before and after. Try to include qualitative performance data from teachers as well to make your observations more robust.

10. How does physical activity affect students’ mood and energy levels?

Survey students on how often they exercise per week, and ask them to rate their mood and energy levels daily. Compare the mood and energy of students who are part of school sports teams and exercising regularly, and those who are not. Look for trends showing a link between movement and mental wellness.

Mental health and adolescent psychology

Mental health research is becoming an increasingly important field, as teens struggle with challenges like anxiety, stress, identity, and peer relationships. Studies here focus on finding insights into emotional well-being, cognitive development, and behavior. This type of research can often be done through surveys, interviews, or controlled interventions. Here are a few ideas worth considering for your project:

11. Can journaling or mindfulness reduce anxiety before exams?

Ask a group of students to practice mindfulness exercises or keep a journal for a week before a major test. Compare their self-reported stress levels to a control group, using surveys like the Perceived Stress Scale. You can cross-reference this with their test performance and reported mood before and after the test.

12. How does social media use affect teenage self-esteem?

Survey students on how often they use different platforms and how they feel afterward. Explore differences by age, gender, or platform type (e.g., image-based vs. text-based). Tally their usage times using various mobile apps, and compare that with their reported self-esteem.

13. Does virtual learning increase stress compared to in-person school?

Compare survey results from students who have experienced both learning modes. Ask about workload, social connection, and mental fatigue. Also, speak to teachers and obtain their inputs as well as objective performance metrics such as quiz scores.

14. Is participation in extracurricular activities linked to emotional well-being?

Collect data on how many clubs or sports students participate in and how they rate their mood, motivation, and social connection. Cross-reference this with data from school counselors and teachers to try to find a connection.

15. What role does music play in emotion regulation during studying?

Conduct an experiment where you play music from different genres (e.g., classical, lo-fi, pop) while students complete tasks. Ask them to report how focused or calm they felt, and track their task accuracy or speed.

Health communication and misinformation

Health communication looks at how information about health is shared and understood. With so much misinformation online, especially across unregulated and unmonitored social media, this field offers various research opportunities. Research topics here will involve plenty of media analysis, surveys, and outreach experiments. Here are a few ideas to consider:

16. How accurate is the health advice from popular teen influencers on platforms like TikTok or Instagram?

Choose a few viral health videos and evaluate their claims against scientific sources. Rate their accuracy, clarity, and possible risks if followed incorrectly.

17. Where do teens get their health information, and how reliable is it?

Survey students about their top sources for health advice (Google, parents, social media, doctors, etc.). Compare students’ trust in each of these sources and test their knowledge on a few basic health facts.

18. Do visual health campaigns (like posters) change student behavior?

Create different poster designs encouraging hygiene or hydration and display them in school. Then, observe if student behavior changes, e.g., an increase in handwashing frequency and water bottle refills.

19. Can peer-led health education increase awareness about teen health issues?

Organize a short workshop or presentation led by students on a topic like stress, nutrition, or STDs. Use pre- and post-surveys to test knowledge improvement.

Biomedical ethics and access to care

This area primarily covers ethical debates and inequality in healthcare. Questions about fairness, privacy, and access are central to the field. While these are big-picture topics, you can still explore them through case studies, policy analysis, or interviews. Here are a few ideas: 

20. What do students think about vaccine mandates in schools?

Use anonymous surveys to gauge attitudes toward vaccine requirements. Explore the reasons behind support or opposition, and compare results by grade level or political views.

21. How does income affect access to vision or dental care in your community?

Interview students (with consent) or analyze public data on insurance coverage and appointment wait times. Consider factors like transportation or clinic proximity while conducting research.

22. Is it ethical to use AI in diagnosing diseases?

Study how AI tools like ChatGPT or diagnostic software are being used in medicine. Interview medical professionals or research ethical concerns like bias, privacy, and accountability.

23. What are high school students’ views on organ donation?

You can conduct surveys focusing on student awareness and attitudes toward becoming organ donors. Then, you can test whether a short educational intervention (a poster or video) changes their opinions.

One other option—Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you want to pursue independent health-based research under the guidance of a mentor, consider applying to Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, which are selective high school programs founded in partnership with Harvard and Oxford researchers. In the past, 4,000+ students applied for just 500 spots in the research program. You can learn about the application and available programs on the application form here.

Also, you can check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation—a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, it offered 150 students full need-based financial assistance.

Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program in which students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop a research paper.

Image Source - Lumiere Research Scholar Program logo