Picking a public health research topic can feel overwhelming because the field covers everything from infectious diseases and nutrition to mental health, healthcare policy, and climate change. Public health projects at the high school level can involve working with published studies, government datasets, surveys, or health statistics. You can compare disease rates across regions, examine how policies affect health outcomes, or analyze trends related to nutrition, pollution, or healthcare access. A strong topic makes it easier to organize your research, ask better questions, and have more productive conversations with mentors.
How Do You Pick a Good Public Health Topic?
The topic you choose will shape the kinds of sources you use, the questions you ask, and how manageable the project feels over time. A focused topic is usually easier to research because you can identify clear health trends, populations, or policies to study. A strong public health topic usually has four characteristics:
Specificity
Your topic should lead to one narrow research question. For example, “obesity in America” is too broad for a high school project because it covers too many factors and populations. A more focused topic would be whether fast food density is associated with obesity rates in certain U.S. counties, which gives you a better research question and access to existing public health data.
Access to sources or data
Most high school public health projects rely on publicly available datasets or existing literature. Topics connected to CDC databases, WHO reports, Census data, or published epidemiological studies are easier to research than topics with little accessible information.
Personal interest
You will spend weeks reading about the topic, organizing evidence, and refining your analysis. So, topics connected to classes, news events, healthcare policy debates, or personal interests are usually easier to sustain over time.
Real-world relevance
You do not need to solve a major health issue, but your research question should relate to an active discussion in epidemiology, environmental health, healthcare access, or behavioral science. Strong projects connect to current public health questions.
What Is Public Health Research?
Public health research examines health patterns and health-related issues across populations rather than focusing on individual patients. Many projects explore how factors such as nutrition, pollution, healthcare access, income, education, and technology use influence health outcomes within communities and broader populations. These projects often involve reviewing published studies, interpreting public datasets, comparing demographic or regional trends, or studying the impact of policies and prevention programs. You can investigate disease prevalence, analyze mental health survey data, compare healthcare access across populations, or examine how environmental conditions affect community health.
To make your search easier, we’ve narrowed down a list of 25 public health research topics for high school students, covering a broad range of subjects, including nutrition, mental health, infectious diseases, environmental health, vaccination, healthcare systems, and population health trends.
1. Relation Between Fast Food Outlet Density and Obesity
Topic title: Fast Food Outlet Density and Obesity Rates in U.S. Counties
Sub-field: Nutritional Epidemiology
Difficulty: Beginner
Suggested research question: Is fast food outlet density associated with county-level obesity rates after adjusting for median household income?
Key methods or data sources: CDC PLACES, USDA Food Environment Atlas, Census data, correlation analysis in Excel
Good fit for: Students new to data analysis, working with structured public datasets
Fast-food density is often used to measure how local food environments influence health outcomes. Researchers studying obesity rates frequently compare restaurant access with variables like income, transportation, physical activity levels, and grocery store availability. This makes the topic useful if you want to learn how multiple public health variables interact, rather than examining a single cause in isolation.
You can structure this project around county-level comparisons, regional trends, or differences between urban and rural areas. The research process will rely on publicly available CDC and USDA datasets, which makes it manageable even if you are new to epidemiological research.
2. Influence Of Social Media On Vaccine Hesitancy
Topic title: Vaccine Hesitancy and Social Media Use Among U.S. Adults
Sub-field: Behavioral Epidemiology
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Is the frequency of social media use associated with self-reported vaccine hesitancy in survey datasets?
Key methods or data sources: Pew Research data, CDC surveys, literature review on PubMed
Good fit for: Students interested in communication, psychology, or behavioral health
This topic gives you the chance to work with survey data, public opinion studies, and research on online behavior. You could compare age groups, examine differences across platforms, or study how researchers measure vaccine confidence in national surveys. During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers paid closer attention to how social media influences the way people think about vaccines and public health information. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram have become major sources of health information, but they also spread misinformation very quickly. Because of this, public health researchers began studying whether frequent social media use is associated with higher levels of vaccine hesitancy.
3. PM2.5 Exposure and Respiratory Diseases
Topic title: PM2.5 Exposure and Pediatric Asthma Hospitalization Rates in Urban Areas
Sub-field: Environmental Health
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Is PM2.5 concentration associated with pediatric asthma hospitalization rates across urban areas?
Key methods or data sources: EPA AirData, CDC PLACES, regression analysis
Good fit for: Students interested in environmental justice and respiratory health
PM2.5 refers to extremely small airborne particles produced by vehicle emissions, industrial activity, and wildfire smoke. Because these particles can enter the lungs and bloodstream, they are frequently studied in respiratory disease research. Pediatric asthma hospitalization rates are often used as an indicator of environmental health burden in urban communities. Analyze differences between neighborhoods, compare trends across cities, or examine how air pollution exposure overlaps with income and housing patterns.
4. Medicaid Expansion In The U.S
Topic title: Medicaid Expansion and Uninsured Rates in U.S. States
Sub-field: Health Policy
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Did Medicaid expansion reduce uninsured rates among low-income adults compared to non-expansion states?
Key methods or data sources: CPS, Kaiser Family Foundation data, comparative policy analysis
Good fit for: Students interested in economics or policy
After the Affordable Care Act was passed, some states expanded Medicaid coverage while others did not. This created clear differences in healthcare access across the country, especially for low-income adults. You can study these differences to understand whether Medicaid expansion helped reduce uninsured rates and improve access to medical care. Compare states, track changes over time, or examine how the effects differed across income groups and regions.
5. Maternal Mortality in the United States
Topic title: Disparities in Maternal Mortality in the United States
Sub-field: Maternal Health
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: What factors contribute to racial disparities in maternal mortality rates in the U.S.?
Key methods or data sources: CDC WONDER, peer-reviewed literature review
Good fit for: Students interested in health equity
Black women in the United States are far more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and this gap exists across income and education levels. Because of this, maternal mortality has become a major topic in public health and health equity research. Many studies look at issues like unequal healthcare access, bias in medical treatment, differences in hospital quality, and the long-term effects of structural racism on maternal health outcomes.
6. Sugary Beverage Taxes and Soda Consumption
Topic title: Sugary Beverage Taxes and Soda Consumption Changes
Sub-field: Nutritional Policy
Difficulty: Beginner
Suggested research question: Did sugary beverage taxes reduce soda consumption in U.S. cities?
Key methods or data sources: Policy evaluation studies, USDA data, literature review
Good fit for: Students interested in policy and nutrition
Structure this topic as a policy evaluation project using published studies. Several U.S. cities introduced taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages to reduce consumption and address obesity-related disease. Compare beverage purchasing patterns before and after implementation, while accounting for factors like income and substitution effects.
7. Mental Health Trends During COVID-19
Topic title: Adolescent Mental Health Trends During COVID-19 School Closures
Sub-field: Mental Health Epidemiology
Difficulty: Beginner
Suggested research question: How did COVID-19 school closures affect adolescent anxiety and depression rates?
Key methods or data sources: CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, national surveys
Good fit for: Students interested in psychology or education
Before the pandemic, many schools provided students with daily structure, social interaction, counseling services, and regular access to adults outside the home. When schools closed during COVID-19, those systems disappeared almost overnight for millions of teenagers. In the years that followed, public health reports showed sharp increases in anxiety, depression, and feelings of isolation among adolescents, making youth mental health one of the most discussed long-term effects of the pandemic.
8. Connection Between Grocery Store Access and Type 2 Diabetes
Topic title: Grocery Store Access and Type 2 Diabetes in Rural Counties
Sub-field: Nutritional Epidemiology
Difficulty: Beginner
Suggested research question: Is limited grocery store access associated with type 2 diabetes prevalence in rural counties?
Key methods or data sources: USDA Food Environment Atlas, CDC Diabetes Surveillance System
Good fit for: Students interested in rural health or nutrition
Some rural areas in the United States have higher diabetes rates than many urban communities. In this project, you can explore whether access to healthy food is associated with these differences. You might compare grocery store availability, transportation access, income levels, or healthcare access across different counties or regions. You can also choose to focus on one state or compare trends across multiple states. Most of the data for this topic is publicly available, making it a manageable project for students using spreadsheets or basic data analysis tools.
9. How Community Factors May Influence HIV Rates
Topic title: Examining Connections Between Incarceration and HIV Rates
Sub-field: Social Epidemiology
Difficulty: Advanced
Suggested research question: Is county-level incarceration associated with HIV prevalence after controlling for poverty and healthcare access?
Key methods or data sources: CDC HIV data, Bureau of Justice Statistics, regression analysis in Python or R
Good fit for: Students with statistics or coding experience
HIV transmission rates can be influenced by broader social and community conditions in addition to individual health behaviors. In this project, you can examine whether high incarceration rates are connected to differences in healthcare access, treatment continuity, and HIV outcomes in communities that already face healthcare disparities. You can work with public datasets related to incarceration, healthcare access, and HIV rates to compare patterns across regions or populations. Because the topic involves analyzing multiple variables simultaneously, it is better suited for students interested in quantitative analysis and population-level public health research.
10. Opioid Use and Overdose Trends
Topic title: Understanding the Opioid Crisis Through Prescription Data
Sub-field: Substance Use Epidemiology
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: How has the relationship between opioid prescribing rates and overdose mortality changed over time?
Key methods or data sources: CDC WONDER, DEA ARCOS data, trend analysis
Good fit for: Students interested in drug policy or healthcare systems
The opioid epidemic has shifted significantly over the last two decades. Earlier stages of the crisis were closely linked to prescription opioid use, while more recent overdose trends are strongly associated with illicit fentanyl. This topic allows you to compare how mortality patterns have changed over time and across geographies. You can focus on specific states, compare rural and urban regions, or examine how public health responses evolved as the drivers of overdose changed.
11. Urban Green Space and Self-Reported Mental Health in U.S. Cities
Topic title: Understanding the Opioid Crisis Through Prescription Data
Sub-field: Environmental Health / Mental Health
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Is access to urban green space associated with lower rates of self-reported poor mental health days in U.S. cities?
Key methods or data sources: CDC PLACES, Trust for Public Land ParkScore data, Census income data
Good fit for: Students interested in urban planning, psychology, or environmental health
The topic is a good fit if you are interested in environmental health, mental health research, or analyzing public datasets related to cities and communities. Mental health patterns in cities are often linked to environmental factors such as access to parks and green spaces. In this project, you can explore how recreational areas may relate to stress, anxiety, and depression rates while also considering factors such as neighborhood income, walkability, and housing conditions. You might compare different cities, neighborhoods, or demographic groups to examine how urban design and community spaces are connected to population health trends.
12. School-Based Health Centers and Chronic Absenteeism
Topic title: How School-Based Health Centers May Affect Chronic Absenteeism
Sub-field: School Health
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Are school districts with school-based health centers associated with lower rates of chronic absenteeism?
Key methods or data sources: Department of Education datasets, SHPPS data, literature review
Good fit for: Students interested in education policy or adolescent health
School-based health centers provide medical and mental health services directly on campus, particularly in underserved districts. Study whether these programs improve attendance by reducing barriers to healthcare access. You can compare districts with and without health centers or examine how absenteeism varies across income levels and regions.
13. Walkability Scores and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality
Topic title: Exploring the Link Between Walkability and Heart Disease
Sub-field: Chronic Disease Epidemiology
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Is neighborhood walkability associated with lower cardiovascular disease mortality rates in metropolitan areas?
Key methods or data sources: EPA Smart Location Database, CDC WONDER, Census datasets
Good fit for: Students interested in urban design or chronic disease research
This project allows you to combine urban planning metrics with disease mortality data. You can focus on metropolitan comparisons or study differences between neighborhoods within a single city. Walkable neighborhoods are often linked to higher levels of physical activity, lower car dependence, and improved cardiovascular health. While studying walkability, you can also examine how housing density, public transportation, and income influence long-term health outcomes.
14. Childhood Lead Exposure and Educational Outcomes
Topic title: How Childhood Lead Exposure May Affect Educational Outcomes
Sub-field: Environmental Health
Difficulty: Advanced
Suggested research question: Is childhood lead exposure associated with lower standardized test performance in urban school districts?
Key methods or data sources: State health department lead surveillance data, NCES datasets, regression analysis
Good fit for: Students interested in environmental justice or developmental health
Older housing and aging water systems can increase the risk of lead exposure in many cities across the United States. Children living in these areas may experience long-term effects beyond physical health, including challenges related to learning, behavior, and academic performance. For this topic, you can investigate how lead exposure rates differ across neighborhoods, ZIP codes, or school districts and examine how those patterns connect to housing age and income levels.
15. Paid Sick Leave Policies and Influenza Transmission
Topic title: Paid Sick Leave and Influenza Trends
Sub-field: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Difficulty: Advanced
Suggested research question: Did mandatory paid sick leave policies correlate with lower influenza-like illness rates in U.S. cities?
Key methods or data sources: CDC FluView, city policy databases, comparative policy analysis
Good fit for: Students interested in labor policy or infectious disease
The topic connects public health with labor policy and is well-suited to students interested in epidemiology, economics, or workplace health trends. Paid sick leave policies can affect how quickly infectious illnesses spread within workplaces and communities. When workers are able to stay home while sick, transmission rates may decrease, though the effects can differ across industries, income levels, and regions. In this project, you could compare illness trends before and after paid sick leave policies were introduced or examine differences between areas with and without these requirements.
16. Social Isolation and Mortality in Older Adults
Topic title: How Social Isolation May Affect Health in Older Adults
Sub-field: Social Epidemiology
Difficulty: Beginner
Suggested research question: What does existing literature show about the relationship between social isolation and mortality in adults over age 65?
Key methods or data sources: PubMed literature review, meta-analyses, systematic review methodology
Good fit for: Students interested in aging or mental health
Review published research to explore how isolation may affect physical and mental health in aging populations. You can focus on mental health, healthcare access, community support systems, or the challenges faced by older adults living alone. Social isolation is examined as a public health issue, especially among older adults. Studies have linked limited social connections with health outcomes such as heart disease, memory decline, and overall quality of life.
17. Tobacco Marketing Near Schools and Youth Smoking Rates
Topic title: Youth Smoking Rates and Tobacco Advertising Near Schools
Sub-field: Tobacco Control
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Is tobacco retailer density near schools associated with higher youth smoking rates?
Key methods or data sources: CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, state retailer license databases, spatial analysis
Good fit for: Students interested in behavioral health or marketing policy
You can examine how retailer density varies across neighborhoods or explore how tobacco control policies aim to reduce youth exposure to advertising. The location and visibility of tobacco advertising can influence how often young people are exposed to marketing in their daily environments. In some cities, tobacco retailers and advertisements are more concentrated in lower-income neighborhoods or near schools and public transit areas.
18. How Urban Heat Islands May Increase Heat-Related Illness
Topic title: How Extreme Heat Affects Health in Cities
Sub-field: Climate and Health
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Is the urban heat island effect associated with higher rates of heat-related emergency department visits?
Key methods or data sources: NOAA climate data, CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
Good fit for: Students interested in climate change or emergency medicine
Explore how cities can become significantly warmer than nearby rural areas because roads, buildings, and other paved surfaces absorb and retain heat. Known as the urban heat island effect, these temperature differences may increase heat-related health risks, particularly in neighborhoods with limited tree cover or cooling resources. You could compare temperature patterns across cities or neighborhoods while examining how heat exposure connects to housing conditions, public infrastructure, or access to cooling spaces.
19. How Social and Healthcare Factors Influence Breastfeeding Rates
Topic title: Differences in Breastfeeding Rates Across Racial Groups in the United States
Sub-field: Maternal and Child Health
Difficulty: Beginner
Suggested research question: What factors are associated with racial disparities in breastfeeding initiation and duration rates?
Key methods or data sources: CDC National Immunization Survey, PRAMS data, literature review
Good fit for: Students interested in maternal health or health equity
Examine how breastfeeding rates differ across racial and income groups in the United States. These differences are often linked to factors such as workplace leave policies, hospital practices, access to healthcare, and cultural influences on infant feeding. You can explore how these conditions vary across populations and what patterns appear in public health data and surveys. The topic is a strong fit if you are interested in maternal and infant health, healthcare systems, or understanding how policy and social factors shape health outcomes.
20. Telehealth and Healthcare Access in Rural Communities
Topic title: Telehealth Trends in Rural Areas After COVID-19
Sub-field: Health Services Research
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Did expanded telehealth access reduce rural healthcare access disparities after COVID-19?
Key methods or data sources: CMS datasets, HRSA reports, telehealth policy literature
Good fit for: Students interested in healthcare technology or rural health
Analyze how the rapid expansion of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic changed access to medical care, especially in areas with fewer physicians. Public health studies often explore whether virtual visits improved healthcare access and whether barriers such as internet connectivity and digital literacy limited their effectiveness. In this project, you can compare telehealth use between rural and urban areas or examine how adoption varies across age and income groups.
21. English Language Proficiency and Preventive Healthcare Use
Topic title: How English Proficiency May Influence Preventive Care
Sub-field: Immigrant Health
Difficulty: Intermediate
Suggested research question: Is limited English proficiency associated with lower use of preventive healthcare services among immigrant populations?
Key methods or data sources: National Health Interview Survey, Census language data, AHRQ reports
Good fit for: Students interested in immigrant health or healthcare access
You can compare preventive care trends across demographic groups or analyze how healthcare access varies between immigrant populations. This topic combines public health with research on the social determinants of health. Study how language barriers affect preventive care utilization. Lower rates of vaccination, cancer screening, and routine checkups are frequently linked to limited access to culturally and linguistically appropriate healthcare systems.
22. How Alcohol Outlet Density May Relate to Community Violence Rates
Topic title: Alcohol Outlet Concentration and Violence Patterns
Sub-field: Injury Prevention
Difficulty: Advanced
Suggested research question: Is alcohol outlet density associated with higher county-level intimate partner violence rates?
Key methods or data sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, alcohol licensing databases, Census data
Good fit for: Students with statistics experience interested in social epidemiology
Examine how alcohol outlet density, such as the number of liquor stores and bars in an area, may be linked to rates of violence in surrounding communities. This relationship is influenced by several other factors, including poverty levels, policing practices, and population density, which can make patterns more complex to interpret. In this project, you can compare different cities or neighborhoods by combining public datasets on alcohol availability and violence rates.
23. School Nutrition Standards and BMI Trends in Elementary Students
Topic title: How School Nutrition Standards May Affect BMI Trends
Sub-field: Nutritional Epidemiology
Difficulty: Beginner
Suggested research question: Did implementation of updated school nutrition standards correlate with changes in BMI trends among elementary school students?
Key methods or data sources: USDA nutrition reports, CDC child health datasets, literature review
Good fit for: Students interested in nutrition or child health policy
For this project, you can review existing research or analyze policy changes across different locations to understand their impact. This topic is a good fit if you are interested in how schools influence health and how nutrition policies affect population-level outcomes. School meal standards are often used as public health interventions to improve children’s diets and support healthier long-term eating habits. Studies of these policies typically examine whether changes in school meals are associated with differences in outcomes, such as BMI trends over time, while also considering factors such as region and student demographics.
24. How Community Health Worker Programs Support Chronic Disease Care
Topic title: Community Health Worker Programs and Chronic Disease Management
Sub-field: Community Health
Difficulty: Beginner
Suggested research question: Which community health worker program features are most associated with improved chronic disease outcomes?
Key methods or data sources: AHRQ reports, CDC resources, PubMed systematic reviews
Good fit for: Students interested in healthcare delivery or health equity
For this project, you can review existing research on how different community health worker programs are designed and what outcomes they are associated with. This topic is well-suited for a literature review if you are interested in healthcare access, chronic disease management, or community-based approaches to improving health. Community health workers play an important role in linking people to healthcare services, health education, and support for managing long-term conditions. Studies of these programs often look at outcomes such as diabetes control, blood pressure management, and medication adherence, especially in underserved communities.
25. Firearm Homicide Rates and State-Level Gun Laws
Topic title: Examining the Relationship Between Gun Laws and Firearm Death Rates
Sub-field: Injury Prevention / Health Policy
Difficulty: Advanced
Suggested research question: Are stricter state firearm laws associated with lower firearm homicide rates after controlling for poverty and urbanization?
Key methods or data sources: CDC WONDER, Giffords Law Center scorecards, Census datasets
Good fit for: Students interested in policy analysis or injury epidemiology
This topic is best suited for students comfortable interpreting complex policy and epidemiological data. Examine homicide trends across states, compare policy categories, or analyze how researchers address confounding variables in firearm policy studies. Firearm violence is frequently studied as a public health issue because researchers analyze mortality patterns, injury prevention strategies, and policy outcomes at the population level. Studies in this area often compare states with different legislative approaches to background checks, permit systems, and firearm access regulations.
Horizon Academic Research Program
If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs! This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper on a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from. You can find the application link here!
Image source: Horizon Academic Research Program