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Report reveals key challenges facing adolescents

Poor mental health, rising obesity rates, exposure to violence and climate change are among the key challenges facing our adolescents today, according to a global report.

The landmark report, by experts in adolescent health, including from Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), has revealed how supporting young people's health and well-being could improve economic, social and public health for generations to come.

The found investment in adolescents' health and well-being doesn't match the scale of the problems faced by young people.

Bringing together 44 Commissioners and 10 Youth Commissioners, the Commission stated that while adolescents make up 24% of the population (about two billion people), they receive just 2.4% of global development and health funding.

By 2030, more than half of adolescents will be living in countries where their demographic experiences an excess burden of complex disease.

The report found the ongoing challenges faced by this age group included:

• High cases of poor mental health and limited support services
• Increasing rates of obesity due to complex environmental and commercial factors
• Lack of digital safety and exposure to cyberbullying and misinformation
• Experiencing violence in conflict-affected areas and within the home
• Ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures
• Widening gaps in reproductive rights, particularly for young women
• Environmental challenges and climate change impacts

Published in The Lancet, the report predicted that by 2050, 70% of the world's adolescents will be living in urban areas. While this potentially brings benefits, rapid unplanned urbanization may also accelerate poverty, isolation and insecure housing, it found.

The report stated that urban, public spaces should be more amenable and tailored to young people, such as safe and engaging spaces to congregate, which would have a powerful effect on health outcomes.

It also found urgent action was required to better protect young people from violence and ensure equitable access to education and reproductive rights. Almost half of adolescents have experienced violence, profoundly impacting their social and emotional development and well-being.

While global efforts have largely closed the gender gap in high school education, by 2030, almost a third of young women will not be in post-secondary education, employment or training.

MCRI Professor Peter Azzopardi said there was a great need for targeted actions that focused on early intervention.

"Meaningful, evidence-based, multi-sector partnerships with young people will be the key to improving health and well-being," 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."

Potential solutions and actions outlined include:

• Advocating for change and amplifying the needs and voices of young people
• Developing goal-centered approaches through the Office of the UN Secretary with a focus on measuring and improving adolescent health and well-being
• Involving young people in community-based environmental programs
• Scaling up public health programs that improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes and reduce gender-based violence
• Strengthening actions within health and education sectors while reinforcing collaborations
• Limiting the exposure of advertising targeting adolescents
• Promoting and encouraging the healthy use of social media and online spaces

MCRI Professor Susan Sawyer said partnerships with young people were a cornerstone of the report, which aimed to draw on their capability and leadership to help shape the world they wanted to live in.

"This report represents a wealth of current information about the state of our young people's health," she said. The findings are alarming and they demand urgent action and accountability, in collaboration with adolescents, to create safer spaces and meaningful change."

But Professor Sawyer said lack of national leadership around adolescent health remained a major barrier to overcoming the challenges.

"A common myth is that adolescents are healthy and therefore don't need health services," she said. Yet our findings show that in every country, adolescents need access to responsive health services that can confidentially identify and respond to their emerging health needs."

The report will be launched at the World Health Organization's 78th Health Assembly in Geneva.