|
|
When it comes to health and behavior lifelong patterns are set in childhood. As adolescents emerge from childhood they begin to enter a world where earlier patterns put them at risk for accidents, disease, unplanned pregnancy and even unhealthy weight. Today we have an adolescent obesity epidemic in this country, and it isn’t just an issue for girls and young women. We have an adolescent suicide problem, and it’s pronounced with adolescent males, who complete suicide at four times the rate of adolescent females. Homicide among adolescent males is four times that of adolescent females. Adolescent males have an unintended injury rate that is double that of females, and adolescent males have an ADHD diagnosis rate that is three times that of adolescent females. The diagnosis rate of epilepsy among young males is twice that of young females, and the incidence rates of syphilis among males age 15-24 is from twice to five times that of females. Yet, once most young males leave their pediatrician’s office for the last time they do not return to a health care provider for regular visits until their mid-thirties, if then. And, while this lack of continuous care may be exacerbated by poverty and other factors, it affects young men who come from affluent backgrounds as well. The situation with females is quite different. Once they have their first period and become sexually active they have more incentive to seek continuous medical care, if for no other reason than simply because they can become pregnant. Their ob/gyn’s office, in essence, becomes their medical home for life. Young males do not have the equivalent, with consequences for both themselves and society. Young males are half the equation in unintended and unwanted pregnancies. They acquire STIs that, if left undiagnosed and/or untreated, can spread to their sexual partners and have severe long term consequences for their own overall health. They suffer from depression that goes unnoticed by our educational and health care systems, leading at times to substance abuse and those suicide rates that are higher than females. They are not taught what it means to be biologically male and the things that males should learn in adolescence to protect their health as adults, like testicular self-exams (testicular cancer is the top cancer among males 18-34). They are not engaged in conversation about the very meaning of masculinity, leading to risky behaviors and, among some gay male youth, shame and bullying. If young males had a place, a home, or even a welcoming place to go within our health care system that focused on these needs in a coherent and comprehensive fashion we would be much healthier as a society. |