Seizing the opportunities of adolescent health

Abstract

Economic and social change have brought great opportunities and threats to adolescent health for rich and poor nations alike. The health transition, together with changes in adolescent social roles, has shifted the burden from childhood infectious diseases towards adolescent injuries and health-jeopardising behaviours in all but the poorest countries. Fortunately, research has clarified many determinants of these behaviours, and wide-ranging prevention approaches to minimise harm and promote health have been identified. The challenge is how to increase use of efficacious policies and programmes worldwide, while recognising that communities and nations differ and need to make local decisions. Likewise, there is a need to understand that adolescent health contributes to adult health and can deliver economic dividends to nations that invest wisely in adolescent health. 1 Little AW Green A Successful globalisation, education and sustainable development. Int J Educ Dev. 2009; 29: 166-174 Crossref Scopus (81) Google Scholar , 2 World BankWorld Development Report 2007: development and the next generation. The World Bank, Washington, DC2006 Crossref Google Scholar Adolescence: a foundation for future healthAdolescence is a life phase in which the opportunities for health are great and future patterns of adult health are established. Health in adolescence is the result of interactions between prenatal and early childhood development and the specific biological and social-role changes that accompany puberty, shaped by social determinants and risk and protective factors that affect the uptake of health-related behaviours. The shape of adolescence is rapidly changing—the age of onset of puberty is decreasing and the age at which mature social roles are achieved is rising. Full-Text PDF Adolescence and the social determinants of healthThe health of adolescents is strongly affected by social factors at personal, family, community, and national levels. Nations present young people with structures of opportunity as they grow up. Since health and health behaviours correspond strongly from adolescence into adult life, the way that these social determinants affect adolescent health are crucial to the health of the whole population and the economic development of nations. During adolescence, developmental effects related to puberty and brain development lead to new sets of behaviours and capacities that enable transitions in family, peer, and educational domains, and in health behaviours. Full-Text PDF Worldwide application of prevention science in adolescent healthThe burden of morbidity and mortality from non-communicable disease has risen worldwide and is accelerating in low-income and middle-income countries, whereas the burden from infectious diseases has declined. Since this transition, the prevention of non-communicable disease as well as communicable disease causes of adolescent mortality has risen in importance. Problem behaviours that increase the short-term or long-term likelihood of morbidity and mortality, including alcohol, tobacco, and other drug misuse, mental health problems, unsafe sex, risky and unsafe driving, and violence are largely preventable. Full-Text PDF Health of the world's adolescents: a synthesis of internationally comparable dataAdolescence and young adulthood offer opportunities for health gains both through prevention and early clinical intervention. Yet development of health information systems to support this work has been weak and so far lagged behind those for early childhood and adulthood. With falls in the number of deaths in earlier childhood in many countries and a shifting emphasis to non-communicable disease risks, injuries, and mental health, there are good reasons to assess the present sources of health information for young people. Full-Text PDF