In many ways, children today are doing better than their parents did. They take fewer drugs, commit fewer crimes and have fewer babies. If they would just lay off the chips and soda.

A huge increase in obesity and increases in young people living in poverty and in single-parent homes have held back even greater progress in children's overall well-being during the past three decades, according to the Foundation for Child Development.

The Child Well-Being Index, which tracks 28 separate measures, shows that since 1993 children have been engaging in less risky behavior. And while all is not rosy, the report says the overall well being of children is improving.

Among these findings, the adolescent and teen birth rate has dropped from 20 births per 1000 girls in 1992 to an estimated 10.9 births per 1000 girls in 2004.

Binge drinking among high school seniors has fallen from 36.9 percent in 1975 to about 29.2 percent in 2004.

The number of youth offenders and victims has fallen dramatically since 1993. The number of youths age 12-17 who were victims of crime in 1994 stood at 120 per 1000 children. The number of crime victims in that same age group is projected at about 45 per 1000 in 2004.

CHESAPEAKE, Ohio -- Usually people blow up balloons the old fashion way. They place the open end of the latex object in their mouth with their thumb and forefinger, press their lips together, and blow carbon dioxide inside causing it to expand.

Some take the easier route and place the open end of the latex or Mylar (made of polyester) balloon on the spout of a tank and release helium inside, so the balloon can float in the air.

But Mark Hatten devised a technique to blow up a balloon that is so ingenious, it earned him a spot on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" tonight.

"I can blow up a balloon with my armpit," said 17-year-old Hatten.

The armpit magician said he has always wanted to be on The Tonight Show, but up until now he never knew what task he would have to overcome to get there.

"He talked a long time about meeting Jay Leno," said his proud father, Roy Hatten. "I had faith in him. But how he was going to do it? I didn’t know. It’s amazing because he did it himself."

Roy Hatten wasn’t the only one who believed Mark Hatten would make his dream journey to Los Angeles to sit on the couch next to Leno. Even his eighth-grade English teacher, Carmel Knight, knew he would succeed in taking the trip to showcase a strange, but funny, talent.

"When I was in the eighth grade, I was going to try to get on the show then," said the Collins Career Center student. "My English teacher wrote in my yearbook ‘One day we’ll see you on The Tonight Show.’ I was always thinking of something to do. I’ve always wanted to. I thought about doing standup comedy, but that didn’t work too well."

Mark Hatten said he thought long and hard about what he could do to get on the show, and then the perfect idea from one of his childhood visions popped into his head and back out of his underarm.

He said he remembered, sometime during his middle school years, returning home from an event on a church bus one evening. He said he and some friends were playing around with balloons, sucking the helium out and making "funny high pitched voices." Once they got bored with that, they started trying to blow the balloons back up -- without their mouths.

"One of my friends said ‘I bet you $5 you can’t blow it up with your armpit’," Mark Hatten recollected. "Some tried to use their nose. That was the only thing left to try."

Mark Hatten, The Tonight Show fan said he sent in a video about six months ago and received a response recently to make an appearance on the show -- using his forceful arm-squeeze to inflate a balloon.

"They called and asked if I was still interested," Mark Hatten said in a fast and excited voice. "I’ve never rode a plane before. I’m psyched about it."

Mark Hatten’s aspirations to be on the show have gone beyond just wanting to be featured on one show.

"I want to be a Tonight Show correspondent," he said. "I’m not that lucky, but you never know."

The show airs at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.