Adolescent health and development: Understanding the challenges and solutions

Adolescence is a developmental phase that is characterized by important changes in terms of physical, emotional, and social development. This is a period of learning and discovery and yet it is a period that poses certain challenges to physical and mental health. In this blog, we will be discussing physical components of adolescent health, issues, and challenges, the involvement of healthcare professionals, and government efforts targeting the adolescent population.

Key Takeaways:

• Knowledge on physical and emotional issues affecting adolescents.

• Recognizing the most common diseases that affect people, such as diet-related illnesses, mental disorders, and lifestyle diseases.

• Understand the need of pediatricians and various caregivers in managing adolescent health care problems.

• Focusing on government campaigns and policies of youth health and quantifying programs.

  
  

Physical aspects of adolescent development

Adolescence is known as a stage where a number of physiological transformations occur at a high rate. The body goes through dynamic hormonal changes during this time and these changes do affect not only the physiology of the body but also the state of mind. Physical development includes:

1. Growth spurts: The physical growth rate in adolescent children undergoes clear fluctuations attributed to hormones that cause rapid growth in height and weight. It is a growth spurt that differs with the gender, it occurs early, mostly in girls.

2. Sexual maturation: Androgyny is the state that develops due to puberty when kids start developing their sexual organs for sexual reproduction as well as the growth of secondary sexual features like the breast in girls and muscle mass in boys. This phase is often marked with confusion and anxiety as teenagers start to develop physically.

3. Increased nutritional needs: With these changes, energy requirements also increase tremendously throughout the human body. Teenagers need energy-yielding foods, proteins, vitamins, and minerals to enable proper growth and development.

However, due to various factors that are not easy to attribute to human influence, there are numerous illnesses that affect adolescents in their growth and development.

Problems faced by adolescents

Adolescents today face a myriad of health challenges, which can stem from both biological and environmental factors. These issues often intertwine, exacerbating the risks to their health. Here are some of the most pressing problems:

Health Problems:

• Nutrition and eating disorders: The young people suffer from nutritional deficiencies and diseases like anemia, vitamin D and A, anorexia, or bulimia. These can result from social norms to do with size and body shape.

• Mental health issues: Epidemiological studies show that teenage youth suffer frequent anxiety, depression, mood episodes, and suicidal attempts. Sometimes it can become a task coping with school stress, interpersonal relation stress, and family stress.

• Sleep disturbances: Sleep disturbances are normal in adolescent individuals, causing daytime sleepiness, academic dysfunction, and heightened temper. Some of these disturbances include late-night screen time, academic related pressure.

• Infections: Other risks of infections include sexually transmitted diseases or infections, tuberculosis, and HIV among adolescents. This is made worse by ignorance of safe practices on the part of the individuals involved in construction activities.

• Menstrual issues: Girls daily encounter issues such as menstruation, menstrual products, management, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

  
  

• Lifestyle diseases: If teen mobility is being replaced by inactivity triggered by societal advances and poor diets are becoming more prevalent among youths, then obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure are sure to be on the rise.

  
  

•  Substance Abuse: Tobacco and alcohol, for instance, are substances whose use started in adolescence and affects health in the long run.

• Vulnerability: Young people are especially vulnerable to abuse, violence, and the use of force and/or exploitation through the use of physical or sexual violence or through being forced into child labor or trafficking.

• Adolescent pregnancy: Adolescent pregnancies are common among girls who are involved in early marriages or lack adequate sex education; this exposes the mother and child to severe health complications.

Environmental and social challenges: Problems like pollution cause illnesses like asthma and skin diseases, while societal expectations, poverty, and school pressure make mental illnesses worse.

The role of healthcare providers

Pediatrician and childcare specialist play a vital role in addressing the myriad health issues faced by adolescents. Dr. Venkatesh, a dedicated pediatrician in Vizag, emphasizes the importance of holistic care that encompasses both physical and mental health. Here’s how healthcare providers can contribute:

History taking

• Understanding concerns: It is useful to obtain an adolescent and parent-rated self-report to highlight a multitude of concerns such as growth and developmental progress, academic performance, and eating behaviors.

• Emotional health: Brief different questioning can assist in tackling emotional issues/interpersonal relationships with the family and peers, which is important with reference to teenage behaviour.

  
  

Physical Examination

• Routine checks: Well, checkups are important to look for signs of malnutrition, obesity, or other medical problems. It remains necessary to track such growth patterns and their sexual maturity ratings.

• Signs of abuse: It is important for healthcare providers to always keep an eye out for childhood trauma or abuse suspicions during health facility encounters; if so, assist and provide with a reference to the necessary facility.

  
  

Counseling and Education

• Nutritional interventions: nutritional counseling to meet the dietary requirements of adolescents and encouragement of proper diet are other essential aspects in the management of adolescent older persons. It also makes sense to provide adolescents with knowledge about hygiene practices and sexual and safe behaviors.

• Building rapport: Trust with adolescents, especially males, ensures that they disclose specific aspects of their personalities that may be essential for their care.

  
  

Investigations and Referrals

• Health screenings: Some blood examinations that may be helpful to conduct include hemoglobin levels and blood sugar examinations to establish whether the client has any physical complications.

  
  

• Referral systems: Such an approach to practice vectors young people to receive consultations from a counselor, a gynecologist, and other mental health professionals.

  
  

Government Interventions in Adolescent Health Care

Understanding the concept of adolescent health, different government involvement has targeted enhancing health in youths. Schemes such as KSY (Kishori Shakti Yojana) and SABLA Yojana are also primarily aimed at health, nutrition, education, and skills, especially for girls.

The National Health Mission to Address Adolescents refers to the Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNC+A) approach.

Key components include:

• Weekly supplementation: Branded essential nutrients are offered for iron and folic acid deficiencies, which are prevalent in adolescents, plus de-worming.

• Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK): This effort moves beyond the traditional focus of adolescent health, which is reproductive health, to mental, non-communicable diseases, and substance abuse.

  
  

These programs are a good indication for increasing the health and well-being of adolescents, hence making way for a better health generation.

Conclusion

Teenage health is a complex subject and one that cannot be solved by one party encompassing the healthcare professionals, parents, and the government. It is crucial to identify why adolescents require special attention; this blog will explore this aspect and develop strategies of how to get the best out of them. Such challenges are addressed by pediatricians; for example, Dr. Venkatesh, a pediatrician doctor in vizag assists youth clients through consultation, advice, and caring for the specific needs of youths. Just like in learning and growth, through education, intervention, and advocacy, we can assist our adolescents to overcome this stage of life with strength and dignity.