“Adolescents today face new challenges, including rising levels of obesity, mental health disorders and high unemployment,” said Dr Vikram Patel.
The number of adolescents aged 10-24 years would rise to about 2 billion by 2032, as of now their population stands at 1.8 billion which constitutes to over a quarter of world population, as per a Lancet Report.
According to a report by the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well-being, suicide is the leading cause of death among this group. The report which will be launched in London on Tuesday, can be substantiated by 62,960 such deaths reported in 2013. Road accidents (41,168 deaths) and tuberculosis (32,171) followed suicide and claimed 73,359 lives in the same year, said the report.
According to an Indian Express report, the commission states that suicide was actually the biggest killer among the age group 15-19 and 20-24, and the seventh cause of death among 10-14. For convenience of the study, adolescents were divided in three age groups - 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24. 3,594 adolescents in the 10-14 age group killed themselves, 23,748 in the age group 15-19 and 35,618 among those who fall in the bracket of 20-24.
The cause that claimed maximum lives in the youngest age group was infectious diseases of intestine taking around 11,668 lives, this was followed by diarrhoeal diseases (7,375), lower respiratory infections, drowning, malaria, TB, encephalitis and animal contact, according to the report. Though, suicide crops at seventh position in this list, the fact that that this age group can also opt for suicide just goes to show the deteriorating mental health across ages.
Dr Vikram Patel, professor of International Mental Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and one of the expert researchers who contributed to the Lancet report, told Indian Express, “Adolescents today face new challenges, including rising levels of obesity, mental health disorders and high unemployment.”
The report tries to throw light on the problems faced by young people in the phase "generally thought to be the healthiest", as it would eventually affect the health and lifestyle in later years of their life. The report also went to state that those in the age group of 10-24 years have the poorest health-care coverage.
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