At the National press club in Washington DC recently, researchers have unveiled a global study from Journal of Adolescent Health, probing common causes of multiple social maladies.
The research was from Global Early Adolescent Study, which seeks to understand influences in early adolescence that predispose young people to sexual and other health risks—from youth through adulthood and it was done in collaboration between Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The goal of the Global Early Adolescent Study is to understand the development of gender norms in early adolescence that predispose young people to subsequent sexual health risks and conversely that contribute to healthy sexuality so as to provide the knowledge base for adult caregivers and young people themselves to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes.
From the study, child marriage, teen pregnancy, gender-based violence, bullying, academic failure and substance abuse was examined and experts teamed up from across 15 countries, interviewing hundreds of adolescents ages 10 to 14, and their parents, to investigate rigidly enforced gender expectations as a public health risk
The study started off with looking at how gender expectations shape early adolescence around the world. The countries investigated included Bolivia, Belgium, Burkina Faso, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and Vietnam.
The research involved about 450 early adolescents and their parents and the interviews carried out was over the last four years.
The findings will be presented by various experts on Wednesday, September 20th at National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC with speakers that includes: Bamidele Bello, MPH, Obfemei Awolowo University, Nigeria, Robert Wm. Blum, MD, MPH, PhD, Study Director, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Emeritus William H. Gates, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Kristin Mmari, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to mention a few.
According to the researchers, “early adolescence may be the last best chance to address a constellation of culturally enforced gender norms, which can lead to a lifetime of pain and suffering by intensifying the risk of everything from HIV infections and depression to dropping out of school and suicide. A growing body of evidence suggests that adolescent health interventions, which typically focus on youth 15 years or older, may be useless unless they target a much younger age group.”
As children move into early adolescence and start to develop into young men and women, they also start to take up social roles that are linked to masculinity and femininity. The roles they take on have huge implications for their own health and wellbeing and that of people around them. Hence, the researchers opine that this is a critically important period to study. The goal is to use these insights to inform interventions that promote sexual and reproductive well-being.
Kemi Ajumobi
