{"id":3166,"date":"2019-03-13T15:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T05:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/?p=3166"},"modified":"2023-08-31T11:46:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T01:46:58","slug":"headline_indicators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/2019\/03\/13\/headline_indicators\/","title":{"rendered":"Headline indicators for adolescent health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Global health efforts need to catch up with young people<\/h2>\n

Adolescent health globally has worsened over the last 25 years as the positive gains from health efforts have been outpaced by rapid population growth in low-income countries facing the world\u2019s worst health challenges.<\/p>\n

There are now 1.8 billion adolescents in the world, up 20 per cent since 1990. But of these, 430 million or 24 per cent, now suffer from iron deficiency (anaemia), an increase of 74 million. And in a health crisis that is uniquely serious across all countries, some 324 million young people are overweight or obese, a number that\u2019s doubled in just 25 years.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
We need to correct the low level of global resourcing that goes to adolescent health, says Dr Peter Azzopardi. Video: Angus Morgan\/Burnet Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But while the first ever comprehensive attempt to measure the health and wellbeing of adolescents makes sobering reading, it has given the world a unique roadmap to improving adolescent health.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some countries we have made tremendously good progress in adolescent health, but as a global community we simply haven\u2019t kept pace with the need,\u201d says Dr Peter Azzopardi, who has led the global effort to finally put numbers against global adolescent health indicators.<\/p>\n

The results are now published in\u00a0The Lancet<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>medical journal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor very good reasons, global health programming and policy has focused on child and maternal health to address high child and maternal mortality. But when it comes to adolescents we have just assumed that they\u2019re relatively healthy. As a result we either haven\u2019t collected the data, or when we have, we haven\u2019t systematically reported on it. But the time really is now for focusing on adolescent health\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestments in adolescent health can bring a triple dividend \u2013 healthier adolescents now, healthier adults, and a healthier next generation,\u201d says Dr Azzopardi, health researcher at the Burnet Institute, Murdoch Children\u2019s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne.<\/p>\n

One of the key insights from the data is that global health efforts need to be better prioritised and targeted.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Health programs have tended to focus on child and maternal health. Picture: Maria Teneva\/Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The report shows that in wealthier countries the emphasis needs to be on addressing adolescent health risks like substance use, binge drinking and obesity, but in low income countries a key priority still needs to be on improving the social determinants of health like education, access to contraception and tackling high rates of child marriages and teen pregnancies.<\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is really important to understand because it is the wealthier countries that have largely set the adolescent health agenda and their focus has been on health risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the data is telling us that we need to broaden our lens and improve the social determinants of health in these other countries, as well as respond to the disease burden and injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in 2016\u00a0The Lancet<\/em>\u00a0Commission<\/a>\u00a0set out 12 indicators of global adolescent health (for 10 to 24 year-olds) covering health outcomes, risks and social determinants. They were:<\/p>\n