New trends emerging among seven- to 17-year-olds in the UK include getting fit and chilling out with some low-quality videos, according to new data from media research firm Childwise. 

As the company’s latest Playground Buzz report explains, kids are really embracing “brainrot” content—an affectionate term for low-quality videos that can sometimes be very silly or bizarre—because it’s an easy time-filler that can be watched passively. 

Emilie Ownens, a youth and media researcher at the University of Oslo in Norway shared some insights on this trend in an article that was published last month in digital magazine Psyche. Owens interviewed teens, who explained that brainrot videos are calming for them, offering a break from real-world stress and the heavier topics that occupy so much bandwidth online. 

One example that falls into this category are the Skibidi Toilet animated videos, the first of which has racked up 48 million views on YouTube. Skibidi was the sixth buzziest brand this summer among seven- to 17-year-olds, and it’s gone viral with memes and new videos in recent months. Only the men’s Euro 2024 championship, Roblox, Fortnite, TikTok and YouTube were more talked about, according to Childwise.  

The data underpinning this latest edition of Playground Buzz stems from an online survey that was filled out by 1,200-plus British kids between the ages of seven and 17 during school hours. Childwise publishes three of these reports per year (in the spring, summer and fall). 

Another noteworthy trend is a growing interest in fitness (two out of five teens are going to the gym on a weekly basis) and skincare (more than six in 10 girls look for pleasure from skincare routines, with TikTok driving this movement). 

Girls ages seven to 12 are also way more into horror content these days, and the genre emerged as a favorite among all demos. It’s on the rise in part because of kids’ growing interest in scary and supernatural shows, sparked by Stranger Things and Wednesday. 

And in terms of what kids are watching on YouTube, gaming videos, comedy, music, sports and edits (like trimmed versions of existing videos) all made the top-five list.