Calls to address ‘pervasive’ health challenges for adolescents

‘Adolescents are the future leaders of our world, and ensuring their health and wellbeing is one of the strongest mechanisms available to safeguard the collective future of humanity and to secure a more just society and a healthier and more productive planet.’
 
That is according to a new paper published in The Lancet, calling for action to invest in the health of young people aged 10–24 to ensure they are not ‘left behind’.
 
Led by 44 international experts, including the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), the study predicts that by 2030, more than half of adolescents will be living in countries where their demographic experiences an excess burden of complex disease.
 
Poor mental health and limited support services, increasing rates of obesity, lack of digital safety and exposure to cyberbullying and misinformation, and climate change impacts are all cited as key health challenges facing young people globally.
 
The researchers highlight that despite this age cohort facing a unique set of challenges, progress to address this is falling behind.
 
RACGP Specific Interests Child and Young Person’s Health Chair Dr Tim Jones told newsGP the paper’s findings are overwhelming, and ‘absolutely’ more needs to be done to address ‘a generation of young people with an identity crisis’.
 
‘One of the gaps we’re currently seeing is there are so many problems getting fired at our young people digitally, through the news and social media, and we’re overwhelming them,’ he said.
 
‘Society is expecting them to grow up and take their place as part of us, but we’ve got to deal with that idea of what is their identity – what do they want to be, and what do they see as the barriers?
 
‘If it comes back to identity, what we as GPs can do is learn to ask those identity questions – that creates a safe space.
 
‘We need to spend less time asking, what’s the matter, and more time asking what matters.’
 
With the researchers predicting one billion adolescents will be living in countries where they are at risk of poor health by 2030, they are calling for urgent action and accountability, in collaboration with adolescents, to create ‘safer spaces and meaningful change’.
 
But their findings also show that in every country, access to responsive health services that can identify and respond to adolescents’ health needs is still lacking.
 
Study co-lead, MCRI Global Adolescent Health Group lead Professor Peter Azzopardi, said this indicates a ‘great need for targeted actions’ focusing on early intervention.
 
‘Meaningful, evidence-based, multi-sector partnerships with young people will be the key to improving health and wellbeing,’ he said.
 
‘But we must remain accountable by ensuring that any progress is monitored closely and reported on regularly.
 
‘As our population ages and fertility rates decline, the health of our adolescents becomes even more crucial.’
 
Dr Jones agrees, saying that while many services play a critical role, an overarching adolescent health strategy is needed.
 
‘We don’t have a strategy for a 10-year plan for how we want to support our young people to live happier, healthier lives,’ he said.
 
‘As GPs, we’re watching what’s happening at a government level, seeing these reactive strategies, but there isn’t a vision of what a healthier environment for young people looks like, and when we engage with them, they all say that people keep telling them what to do without understanding – so we’ve got to start there.
 
‘[We need] a strategy that involves spending a lot of time talking to young people and really getting their perspectives and being really honest that we want to support the solutions that they see.
 
‘We need to stop pretending that adolescents are healthy. If we look at every metric for the health of young people – degrees of mental health, loneliness, hospital presentations, satisfaction in their home and learning environments, optimism about the future – every single one of those is declining.
 
‘This is across all our young people, so we need to have a different response than just banning social media.
 
‘We don’t have enough resources to educate a generation well, so they’re being hit on every front. We’ve got a generation that is in crisis, and it is pervasive, it’s across every area of young people’s world that there is major existential challenge at the moment.’
 
Dr Jones says as well as at the individual level working with young people through identity questions and being a safe support, GPs also have an advocacy role.
 
‘Particularly around the role of the digital landscape and where it is known to be causing harm, and how do we tackle that as a society? And we need to look at avenues for social prescribing for our young people,’ he said.
 
‘They’re very connected through the internet, but very socially worried, often insecure, and we’re not going to fix that just through talking to each individual.
 
‘We need robust social prescribing initiatives that help young people feel safe and connected. And that’s bigger than what can happen in our consult rooms.
 
‘We’ve opened Pandora’s box. We can’t just shut the box and pretend we didn’t open it.’
 
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