The Importance of Our Youth

I’m pleased to see an issue of Northwest Public Health devoted primarily to youth and the range of programs throughout our region designed to assist young people. Since our youth are the future—and choices made during adolescence can determine lifelong health—it’s important to focus on the health and well-being of our young people and what works best to promote their healthy development.

Given the recently published statistics on obesity in children and youth, we have our work cut out for us. According to a report in late February from the University of Washington’s Human Services Policy Center, close to a quarter of the state’s children in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades are overweight or obese. Nationally, childhood obesity rates have increased fivefold since the 1970s. The negative consequences of this trend—the risk of serious health problems such as heart disease and diabetes and their effect on our health care system—are daunting. A complex combination of genetic, social, environmental, and behavioral factors has led to our obesity epidemic yet also offers multiple avenues for intervention. And that’s why research is so important.

Whether we are considering obesity, sexual behavior, substance abuse, poverty, violence, or any other of the myriad risk factors in the lives of youth, performing research and sharing best practices are key to reducing risks and promoting healthy development. In the UW School of Public Health and Community Medicine, many of our faculty and students are committed to research on children and adolescents and to training the professionals who work in the field.

Our Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program, for instance, focuses on understanding major maternal and child health problems and on strategies for preventing those conditions. The program prepares students for careers in maternal and child public health practice and is designed for individuals with clinical or public health experience who want to improve programs and policies that promote the health of children.

MCH also supports training programs such as Leadership Education in Adolescent Health, which provides interdisciplinary training to the next generation of leaders in maternal and child health—leaders who will influence and train clinicians, public policy and public health experts, researchers, and educators.

In addition to the work of MCH and a number of other centers and institutes affiliated with the School, the research interests of many individual faculty members focus on adolescent health. Here are but a few examples:

• Childhood precursors to adult disease and prevention of the major causes of death in the US through interventions in childhood and adolescence
• Social and behavioral risk factors for sexually transmitted infections
• Injury prevention in adolescent athletes
• Eating disorders in adolescents
• Obesity prevention
• Health issues of young women, including human papilloma virus, HIV prevention, and contraception
• Adolescent depression

Although the challenges are indeed numerous, through research and public health practice we are learning more effective strategies for reducing risk and promoting healthy development of our youth. The initiatives highlighted in this timely issue of Northwest Public Health, identify many of our culture’s problems and point to opportunities for intervening and helping adolescents become healthier adults.

Patricia Wahl, Dean
School of Public Health and Community Medicine