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Prevention
- Estimated 1.2 million adolescents died in 2015, over 3000 every day, mostly from preventable or treatable causes.
Road traffic injuries were the leading cause of death in 2015. Other major causes of adolescent deaths include lower respiratory infections, suicide, and drowning. Half of all mental health disorders in adulthood start by age 14, but most cases are undetected and untreated.
Around 1.2 billion people, or 1 in 6 of the world’s population, are adolescents aged 10 to 19.
Most are healthy, but there is still substantial premature death, illness, and injury among adolescents. Illnesses can hinder their ability to grow and develop to their full potential. Alcohol or tobacco use, lack of physical activity, unprotected sex and/or exposure to violence can jeopardize not only their current health, but also their health as adults, and even the health of their future children.
Promoting healthy behaviors during adolescence, and taking steps to better protect young people from health risks is critical for the prevention of health problems in adulthood, and for countries’ future health and ability to develop and thrive.
Main Health Issues
1.) Early Pregnancy And Childbirth:
- The leading cause of death for 15– 19-year-old girls globally is complications from pregnancy and childbirth.
- Some 11% of all births worldwide are to girls aged 15–19 years, and the vast majority of these births are in low- and middle-income countries. The UN Population Division puts the global adolescent birth rate in 2015 at 44 births per 1000 girls this age – country rates range from 1 to over 200 births per 1000 girls (1). This indicates a marked decrease since 1990. This decrease is reflected in a similar decline in maternal mortality rates among 15–19 year olds.
- One of the specific targets of the health Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 3) is that by 2030, the world should ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs. To support this, a proposed indicator for the Global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health is the adolescent birth rate.
- Better access to contraceptive information and services can reduce the number of girls becoming pregnant and giving birth at too young an age. Laws that specify a minimum age of marriage at 18 and which are enforced can help.
- Girls who do become pregnant need access to quality antenatal care. Where permitted by law, adolescents who opt to terminate their pregnancies should have access to safe abortion.
HIV
- More than 2 million adolescents are living with HIV.
- One of the specific targets of the health Sustainable Development Goal is that by 2030 there should be an end to the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases, hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.
- Given the high prevalence of HIV in many countries, to achieve this, adolescents will need to be central to control efforts.
- Young people need to know how to protect themselves and must have the means to do so. This includes being able to obtain condoms to prevent sexual transmission of the virus and clean needles and syringes for those who inject drugs. Better access to HIV testing and counselling, and stronger subsequent links to HIV treatment services for those who test HIV positive, are also needed.
3.) Mental Health:
- Depression is the third leading cause of illness and disability among adolescents, and suicide is the third leading cause of death in older adolescents (15–19 years). Violence, poverty, humiliation and feeling devalued can increase the risk of developing mental health problems.
- Building life skills in children and adolescents and providing them with psychosocial support in schools and other community settings can help promote good mental health. Programs to help strengthen the ties between adolescents and their families are also important. If problems arise, they should be detected and managed by competent and caring health workers.
4.) Violence:
- Violence is a leading cause of death in older adolescent males. Interpersonal violence represents 43% of all adolescent male deaths in LMICs in the WHO Americas Region. Globally, 1 in 10 girls under the age of 20 years report experiencing sexual violence.
- Promoting nurturing relationships between parents and children early in life, providing training in life skills, and reducing access to alcohol and firearms can help to prevent injuries and deaths due to violence. Effective and empathetic care for adolescent survivors of violence and ongoing support can help deal with the physical and psychological consequences.
5.) Alcohol And Drugs:
- Harmful drinking among adolescents is a major concern in many countries. It reduces self-control and increases risky behaviors, such as unsafe sex or dangerous driving.
- It is a primary cause of injuries, and premature deaths. It can also lead to health problems in later life and affect life expectancy. Setting a minimum age for buying and consuming alcohol and regulating how alcoholic drinks are targeted at the younger market are among the strategies for reducing harmful drinking.
- Drug use among 15–19 year olds are also an important global concern. Drug control may focus on reducing drug demand, drug supply, or both, and successful programs usually include structural, community, and individual-level interventions.
6.) Injuries:
- Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and disability among adolescents. In 2015, over 115 000 adolescents died as a result of road traffic accidents.
- Young drivers need advice on driving safely, while laws that prohibit driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs need to be strictly enforced. Blood alcohol levels need to be set lower for teenage drivers. Graduated licences for novice drivers with zero-tolerance for drink-driving is recommended.
- Drowning is also a major cause of death among adolescents – 57 000 adolescents, two-thirds of them boys, are estimated to have drowned in 2015, and teaching children and adolescents to swim is an essential intervention to prevent these deaths.
7.) Exercise And Nutrition:
- Iron deficiency anemia is the leading cause of years lost to death in 2015.
- Iron and folic acid supplements are a solution that also helps to promote health before adolescents become parents.
9.) Developing Healthy Eating And Exercise Habits:
- Reducing the marketing of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars, or salt and providing access to healthy foods and opportunities to engage in physical activity are important for all but especially children and adolescents.
- Recommended guidelines for physical activity: 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily.
10.) Tobacco Use:
- The vast majority of people using tobacco today began doing so when they were adolescents. Prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors and increasing the price of tobacco products through higher taxes, banning tobacco advertising and ensuring smoke-free environments are crucial.
- Globally, at least 1 in 10 adolescents aged 13 to 15 years uses tobacco, although there are areas where this figure is much higher. Cigarette smoking seems to be decreasing among younger adolescents in some high-income countries.
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Schools Can Help
- Schools have direct daily contact with more than 16.5 million students attending grades 9-12, making schools vital partners in connecting teens to health services.
- Many U.S. schools already have health care service infrastructure in place, including school-based health centers or school nurses, and can play an important role in providing adolescents' access to information to help reduce their risk and to services if they are needed.
Rights Of Adolescents
- The rights of children (people under 18 years of age) to survive, grow and develop are enshrined in international legal documents. In 2013, the Committee on the Rights of the Child , which oversees the child rights convention, published guidelines on the right of children and adolescents to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, and a General Comment on realizing the rights of children during adolescence was published in 2016.
- It highlights states’ obligations to recognize the special health and development needs and rights of adolescents and young people. The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women also sets out the rights of women and girls to health and adequate health care.
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- Promoting healthy behaviors, and providing current information during adolescence is taking steps to better inform, and protect young people from health risks.
- CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) is a unique source of support for HIV, STD, and pregnancy prevention efforts in the nation’s schools. DASH provides funding and technical assistance that enables state and local education agencies to deliver HIV and STD prevention programs that are scientifically sound and grounded in the latest research on effectiveness.
- DASH also plays a key role in working with state and local education and health agencies, national organizations, parents and teens to ensure that health and education activities support adolescent health, development, and learning. In particular, DASH focuses on ways to create safe and supportive environments so that all young people have the opportunity to learn and be healthy.
- DASH is committed to its mission to promote environments where teens can gain fundamental health knowledge and skills, establish healthy behaviors for a lifetime, connect to health services, and avoid becoming pregnant or infected with HIV or STDs.
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Always Check In With A Pediatrician To Get Answers To Your Concerns. https://omegapediatrics.com/
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