H I G H L I G H T S
- The four leading causes of death for adolescents and young adults aged 15-24 are
motor-vehicle crashes, other unintended injuries, homicide and suicide. Suicide rates for
young men are more than 3 times those for young women.
- The consistent decline in smoking once seen among young Blacks has now reversed. The
proportion of young Blacks who smoke has gone up in the past few years from 13 percent to
23 percent.
- One half of all new HIV infections are diagnosed in those under 25 years of age.
- While birth rates among young black and Hispanic women have declined recently, they are
still about 3 times the white rate.
- The proportion of students in grades 9-12 who participated in daily physical education
declined from 42 percent in 1991 to 25 percent in 1995, a decrease of 40 percent.
- Only one in four youths meets the dietary guidelines recommendations to reduce fat to 30
percent or less of total calories and saturated fat to less than 10 percent of total
calories.
- Between 1991 and 1997, the percentage of students fighting declined by 16 percent. The
percentage carrying weapons dropped by 31 percent over this period.
- The rate of condom use among young black males has sharply increased in recent years.
- Forty states now have an adolescent health coordinator.
9.3b Among youth aged
15-24, the rate of motor vehicle crash deaths decreased from 36.9 per 100,000 in 1987 to
28.8 in 1996, a decline of 22 percent. The HP2000 target is 26.8 per 100,000. During the
same period, alcohol-related motor vehicle crash deaths among 15-24-year-olds declined by
40 percent, from 21.5 per 100,000 in 1987 to 12.9 in 1996 (Objective 4.1b). The HP2000
target is 12.5 per 100,000.
6.1a,-b Preliminary data show
that the suicide rate for youth aged 15-19 was 9.5 per 100,000 in 1997, compared with 10.2
in 1987. There was little variation in the rate in the intervening years. The HP2000
target is 8.2 per 100,000. The suicide rate for males aged 20-34 also changed little
between 1987 (25.2 per 100,000) and 1997 (22.7). The HP2000 target is 21.4 per 100,000.
7.9,-a Physical fighting among
adolescents aged 14-17 declined from 137 incidents per 100 students per month in 1991 to
115 incidents per month in 1997. The HP2000 target is 110 incidents per 100 students per
month. Among black males aged 14-17, physical fighting decreased from 207 incidents per
100 students per month in 1991 to 175 incidents per month in 1997. The HP2000 target is
160 incidents per 100 students per month.
7.10b Weapon-carrying by youth
aged 14-17 decreased from 107 incidents per 100 students per month in 1991 to 74 incidents
per month in 1997, surpassing the HP2000 target of 88 incidents per month. Among black
youth aged 14-17, weapon-carrying declined from 134 incidents per 100 students per month
in 1991 to 84 incidents per month in 1997. This, too, surpasses the target (105 incidents
per student per month).
4.6 The proportion of young
people aged 12-17 years who used alcohol in the previous month declined from 33 percent in
1988 to 21 percent in 1997. The HP2000 target is 12.6 percent. The proportion of those
aged 18-20 using alcohol in the previous month also declined, from 55 percent in 1994 to
53 percent in 1997, well short of the target of 29 percent. After a decrease between 1988
and 1992, marijuana use by adolescents aged 12-17 and young adults aged 18-25 began
increasing in 1993, and the 1997 rates of usage were considerably higher than the target
levels. However, the rates of current cocaine use by both groups in 1997 were lower than
the rates of usage in 1988, and the targets for reductions in cocaine use have been met.
Cigarette smoking among 12-17-year-olds declined from 23 percent in 1988 to 20 percent in
1997. The HP2000 target is 6 percent.
4.7 In each of the years from
1989 to 1997, about a third of high school seniors reported a recent occasion of heavy
drinking (5 or more drinks). The HP2000 target is 28 percent. Among college students, the
proportion of occasional heavy drinkers varied little from 1989 to 1997, remaining at
about 40 percent. The target is 32 percent.
4.9 Between 1989 and 1997, there
was a slight decline in the proportion of high school seniors who perceived parent and
peer disapproval of substance abuse: for occasional marijuana use, the decline was 16
percent; for experimentation with cocaine, 1.8 percent; for smoking, 8 percent. The
proportion who perceived disapproval of heavy drinking stayed much the same during that
time span.
5.1 For females 10-14 years of
age, the rate of live births declined from 1.4 per 1000 in 1990 to 1.2 in 1996. For those
aged 15-17, the rate declined from 37.5 per 1000 in 1990 to 33.8 in 1996. The decline in
live births was substantial for black teenagers aged 15-19, whose rates went down 19
percent between 1990 and 1996, to reach 91 per 1000. There is considerable variation by
region in teenage birth rates, with rates lowest in the northeast and midwest and highest
in the south and southwest.
19.2 The prevalence of chlamydia
among females 15-19 years of age decreased from 12.2 percent in 1988 to 5.4 percent in
1996. For those females aged 20-24, the prevalence dropped from 8.5 percent in 1988 to 3.4
percent in 1996. The latter decrease achieves the HP2000 target, which is 5 percent for
each group.
5.5 In 1997, 23 percent of
in-school sexually active females aged 15- 17 had abstained from sexual activity for the
previous 3 months, as had 34 percent of sexually active males aged 15-17. The proportions
abstaining have varied little since 1990. The HP2000 target for each group is 40 percent.
5.6 In 1997, 85 percent of
in-school, sexually active females aged 15-17 used some form of contraception during
their most recent intercourse, compared with 78 percent in 1990. Eighty-one percent of
high school males in 1997 used a contraceptive at most recent intercourse, a slight
decrease from 83 percent in 1991. The HP2000 target for each group is 90 percent.
1.2 Overweight prevalence in
adolescents aged 12-19 rose from 15 percent in 1976 to 24 percent in 1994, an increase of
60 percent. The HP2000 target is 15 percent.
F O L L O W-U P
- Explore ways to strengthen family communication and the role of parents in their
childrens education.
- Seek to expand opportunities for young people to participate in after-school sports and
other activities.
- Encourage school systems to include instruction in nutrition, daily periods of physical
education, and training in parenting.
- Expand data collection activities to close the gaps in tracking the health status of
young adolescents aged 10-14.
- Ensure coordination among federal agencies to achieve a more complete portrayal of the
dimensions of substance abuse and mental health problems of adolescents and to identify
opportunities for intervention.
- Disseminate the message that risk behaviors are inter-related and so create
opportunities for employing various holistic approaches to reach at-risk youth.
- Form alliances with the media to influence the integration of public health messages in
programming directed at adolescents and their parents.
- Work with religious and other social institutions to guide adolescents toward achieving
healthy lives.
- Increase research to identify protective factors that work to prevent adolescents from
engaging in risky behaviors.
- Develop community partnerships to support the welfare of adolescents, using approaches
that take advantage of culturally diverse perspectives.
(This Progress Review was rebroadcast on November 4, 1998) |