Dr Asha Pemberton
teenhealth.tt@gmail.com
Young adulthood - ages approximately 18 to 26 - is a critical but often ignored time in life from perspectives of health care and parenting. Now legally able to make their own decisions and operate more independently, it is often forgotten that what happens during these years has profound and long-lasting implications for young adults and for the next generation. In order to secure our nation's prosperity, productivity, safety and wellbeing, we must produce healthy, engaged and invested young people.
Although young adults are resilient and adaptable, data consistently demonstrated that the behaviour and choices of this population tend to be surprisingly unhealthy. While the transition into adulthood highlights the importance of taking responsibility for one's health, the dominant pattern among many young adults is worsening health.
Newfound freedoms and social abilities tend to dominate and less attention is paid to wellbeing. This holds true even for young adults who have diagnosed chronic illnesses in childhood. As adolescents age into their early twenties and beyond, they are less likely to eat breakfast, exercise, and get regular physical and dental checks, and more likely to eat fast food, contract sexually-transmitted diseases, smoke cigarettes, use marijuana and other drugs, and binge drink. They also are at higher risk of motor vehicle crashes, suicides, and violent behaviour.
Unfortunately, too little attention has been paid to young adults' specific health needs and the transitions they face in all aspects of their lives. This is true for both of our islands. Mental health among young adults is an area of grave concern. Early adulthood is a time of heightened psychological vulnerability and onset of serious mental health disorders, a problem compounded by failure to recognise illness or to seek treatment. In addition, our services are not particularly tailored to adolescents or young adults, which again reduces the likelihood that they are accessed.
Young adulthood provides an important opportunity for prevention that is sadly often missed. Serious illnesses and disorders can be avoided or managed better if young adults are engaged in wellness practices and screened for early signs of untreated illness. Specific strategies should be developed to reach young people in their spaces and engage them with preventive counselling on important issues relevant to their lives. These include smoking, alcohol use, sexual and reproductive health, violence prevention. At this time, no such package of services consistently exists, and in addition, parents often fail to recognise their important role in continuing to guide and impart wisdom on their now adult children.
Improving behavioural, physical, and emotional health for young adults will improve their safety and well-being as well as their educational and employment outcomes. Our nation needs an active, agile, and skilled workforce to compete globally. To the parents of young adult children, while your
