Violence, drugs, alcohol spur decline of youth health across U.S., study says

Jet, June 26, 1995

The health of America's youth is continuing to decline, spurred by violence, drug and alcohol abuse and pregnancy, doctors said in a bleak review of the latest research.

The recent trends continue a decades-long pattern in adolescent health, Drs. Michelle D. Wilson and Alain Joffe of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore said in a recent issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Despite increased attention, violence continues to cause major health problems for adolescents," the researchers said, citing several studies published in the past year.

In one study noted by the researchers, one in four young people ages 10 to 16 questioned nationwide in 1993 reported being assaulted or abused within the previous year, and one in 10 reported being sexually abused or assaulted. The assault rate was three times higher than the rate reported in the National Crime Survey in 1991.

In another study of suburban teen-agers in Colorado and Ohio, 14 percent of girls and 44 percent of boys reported being hit or punched at school, suggesting violence is not limited to inner cities.

Being a victim of sexual abuse or assault is linked to higher rates of alcohol use, sexual promiscuity and other risky behavior. And 34 percent of sexually abused eighth and 10th-graders in one study said they had planned suicide within the previous year, compared with 21 percent of youngsters who had not been abused and were sexually active. The rate of suicide plans among nonabused youngsters who were sexually inactive was 13 percent.

Marijuana use among eighthgraders has more than doubled since 1991, the researchers said. The researchers cited 1994 government statistics showing an overall increase in drug use among teen-agers.

Pregnancy rates among American teen-agers continue to be among the highest of developed nations. About 1.1 million young women ages 15 to 19 became pregnant in 1991, the medical research showed. Studies have also shown that school programs can help adolescents delay sexual activity and reduce pregnancy rates.

Dr. S. Kenneth Schonberg, director of adolescent medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, said restricting access to guns was one of the first places to start in reducing the risks facing youngsters.

As an example, he said, firearm deaths account for almost all of the increase in what is now a soaring suicide rate among adolescents.