Adolescent Health

Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul creates the symphony of life.  Teenage yoga is an excellent way to help child deal with the overwhelming emotional and physical changes that she goes through during adolescence. Teenagers who practice yoga are less stressed and perform better than their counterparts in academics, If your teenager is looking for a way to stay fit and healthy, yoga is a great choice. It can help your teenager develop a healthy body and mind in a disciplined manner. Teenagers can find yoga practice a little daunting in the beginning, as they fear that they aren’t flexible enough to do yoga. They could be apprehensive about how they might look when they pose in different asanas (poses). Most of these fears are due to misconceptions about the practice. So let’s bust some of these myths to help your teenager understand yoga better and give it a fair chance. Yoga is fo...

Adolescence is a distinct stage that marks the transition between childhood and adulthood. Although you may still include the family in education, adolescents themselves are a major focus of teaching since they have considerable independence and are, consequently, in more control of the degree to which recommendations will be carried out. Adolescents have many important developmental tasks to achieve. They are in the process of forming their own identity, separating themselves from parents, and adapting to rapidly changing bodies. Bodily changes at puberty may cause a strong interest in bodily functions and appearance. Sexual adjustment and a strong desire to express sexual urges become important. Adolescents may have difficulty imagining that they can become sick or injured. This may contribute to accidents due to risk taking or poor compliance in following medical recommendations. Because adolescents have a strong natural preoccupation with appearance and have a high need for peer ...

The World Health Organization defines adolescents as those people between 10 and 19 years of age. Adolescence is one of the most rapid and formative phases of human development, and the distinctive physical, cognitive, social, emotional and sexual development that takes place during adolescence demands special attention in national development policies, programs and plans. In India, data on adolescents from national surveys including National Family Health Survey III (NFHS-3), District Level Household and Facility Survey III, and Sample Registration System call for focused attention with respect to health and social development for this age group. It has therefore been realized that investing in adolescent health will yield demographic and economic dividends for India. In view of this, Government of India launched its first comprehensive program for adolescents, “Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram,” during January 2014, which has a sharp focus on adolescents' sexual health. The...

Adolescence is a significant period for physical growth and sexual maturation. Nutrition being an important determinant of physical growth of adolescents is an important area that needs attention. Growth retardation is one of the most important health concerns for adolescents and their parents as well as health care workers. Inadequate nutritional intake during adolescence can have serious consequences throughout the reproductive years and beyond. Poor nutrition during adolescence can impair the work capacity and productivity of adolescent boys and girls in their later years. Further, an undernourished girl is at the risk of developing complications during pregnancy and the chances of her giving birth to a low birth weight baby increases, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle of malnutrition and ill-health. Major components of food include protein, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins which perform different functions. Proteins are of greatest importance in nutrition. Pro...

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young adults worldwide. There is a growing recognition that prevention strategies need to be tailored to the region-specific demographics of a country and to be implemented in a culturally-sensitive manner. This review explores the historical, epidemiological and demographic factors of suicide in India and examines the strategies aimed at the prevention of suicide.  Suicide  is among the top three causes of death among youth worldwide. According to the WHO, every year, almost one million people die from suicide and 20 times more people attempt suicide; a global mortality rate of 16 per 100,000, or one death every 40 seconds and one attempt every 3 seconds, on average.  The suicide rate in India is comparable to that of Australia and the USA; and the increasing rates during recent decades is consistent with the global trend. Data on suicide in India are available from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB; Ministry of Ho...

Adolescence (10-19 years) is a phase of physical growth and development accompanied by sexual maturation, often leading to intimate relationships. Adolescent HIV/AIDS is a separate epidemic and needs to be handled and managed separately from adult HIV. The adolescents can be subdivided into student, slum and street youth; street adolescents being most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Among various risk factors and situations for adolescents contracting HIV virus are adolescent sex workers, child trafficking, child labor, migrant population, childhood sexual abuse, coercive sex with an older person and biologic (immature reproductive tract) as well as psychological vulnerability. The most common mode of transmission is heterosexual, yet increasing number of perinatally infected children are entering adolescence. This is due to “bimodal progression” (rapid and slow progressors) among the vertically infected children. Clinically, the HIV infected adolescents present as physically stunted indiv...