Research on the Structure and Characteristics of Adolescent Physical Health Policy in China Based on Policy Text Tool

Abstract

The health of young people is an important guarantee for national development and rejuvenation. In the past five years, the Chinese government has issued a series of policies on adolescent physical health, which have effectively promoted the development of adolescent health. In this study, we collected national policies on adolescent physical health from 2016 to 2022 as research objects. Based on the theory of policy instruments, this paper constructs a three-dimensional framework of “policy instrument-adolescent physical health contents-adolescent physical health policy target audience”. The study found that the use of adolescent health policy tools in China is uneven, as most policies are biased towards supply-side policies. The lack of targeted protection policies for adolescents’ physical health is due to the lagging development of physical standards, lack of monitoring technology, and complex governance policies. Policy use by governments, schools, and communities is widely distributed, resulting in a lag in the overall effectiveness of adolescent physical health policies. To this end, we put forward the following suggestions: First, the use of policy instruments should be optimized. Secondly, on the basis of adolescent health monitoring, the physical health standards suitable for national conditions should be formulated. Moreover, we should improve the governance model and guarantee a system to fill the policy blank of the implementation of adolescent physical health. Finally, we should promote the coordinated development of mental health with “moral” as the core.