Health Timebomb for Young Generation
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"Gandalf Grey" gandalfg...@infectedmail.com
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/5968.html Health timebomb for young generation ELEANOR COWIE December 09 2003 FUTURE generations will be the most infertile and obese in the history of humanity, medical leaders warned yesterday.
A study of adolescent health by the British Medical ***ociation said that increased drinking, smoking, and drug-taking among teenagers was creating a "public health timebomb".
According to the report, teenagers' sexual health is also suffering, with as many as one in 10 girls aged 16 to 19 infected with chlamydia, a sexually-transmitted disease that can make sufferers infertile.
Lack of exercise and poor diet has also been highlighted as a major health problem, leading to many young people becoming obese.
The BMA called on the government to put more money into adolescent services, which it said were stuck in a "no man's land" between child and adult health services.
Vivienne Nathanson, BMA head of science and ethics, said practices that were good or bad for health were established during adolescence, making it a crucial time to instil health warnings in youngsters' minds.
"Young people in Britain are increasingly likely to be overweight, indulge in binge drinking, have a sexually-transmitted infection, and suffer mental health problems. It is high time we provided education and health care services that target the specific need of young people," Dr Nathanson added.
She said today's teenagers' habits posed an extraordinary threat to an entire generation.
"It is also a threat to all of us. How can the NHS be funded to deal with that kind of health crisis? We can't expect young people to think that far into the future. We have to do some of the thinking for them." Dr Russell Viner, a consultant in adolescent medicine, said the lack of services dedicated to young people in the UK was scandalous.
"The next generation will be the most infertile and the most obese in the history of mankind and it might also have the worst mental health," he said.
The report calls for a joint approach to deal with the problems, with agencies and government departments contributing to a possible solution.
It also says there should be more education on sex, drugs, alcohol, diet, and exercise in schools, as well as through awareness campaigns and parental guidance.
To tackle the problem of a quarter of 15 and 16-year-olds being smokers, the BMA said that the price of cigarettes should continue to rise.
It also argues for tobacco to be made less readily available, which could involve banning cigarette vending machines and sales in certain types of shop.
To tackle alcohol-related problems, where one in five 13-year-old boys and girls and almost all 15-year-olds admit to drinking, the BMA said alcohol advertising should be banned.
Dr Nathanson said the current provision of sexual health services in the UK was "woefully inadequate" and something needed to be done to make clinics more accessible to young people.
"Access to services is key. Do we really expect a 15-year-old boy with gonorrhoea to take time off school to visit his GP and talk about his sex life? Surely it would be better to develop easily accessible services that are suited to his needs," she said.
Dr Viner suggested that adolescent general health clinics could be created to offer a range of services, including sexual health services, which could be more accessible to teenagers.
A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "We all know that bad diet, inactivity, and binge drinking will impact negatively on a young person's health. The executive is investing in a number of initiatives to ensure that young people are educated and empowered to make sensible life choices."
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BlackWater b...@barrk.net
Now wait a minute ... this could be a GOOD thing.
Not only will the infertility help with the over-population problem but fat & lazy people are far less likely to start wars and such. Could you see a platoon of Teddy Kennedys humping it over the hills in Afghanistan ? No way !
Alas, the downside is the image of a Victorias Secret model with a 52-inch waistline. Yea, a few people are into that, BUT ....
balanc ...@yahoo.com (Proprclr)
Let's just say the next generation of humanity will be more evil than the last. I predict the young generation of 2050, will be mostly big fat 500 lb UltraMegaPreadators that will kill you in no time flat if they even see you, have bad odors, teeth and hair, and will fart and curse every second they are awake.
balanc ...@yahoo.com (Proprclr)
And that's a bad thing?
BlackWater b...@barrk.net
It's a GOOD thing. Population growth is normally pretty close to exponential - and with about 6 billion people already and decreasing amounts of good land for living and farming, well, it's an impending disaster for the not-very-distant-at-all future.
Now if our habits just happen to diminish fertility, all the better. Even a relatively small reduction now means considerable impact on the population in just a generation or two. I'm not sure about all the environmental factors which are combining to diminish fertility, but since we can't convince everybody to practice birth-control, it's lucky that 'nature' is doing it FOR us.
As for fears about the race fading away to nothing ...
I wouldn't worry about that. Given that we breed like bunnies, there will still be *plenty* of births even with a lower fertility level. The population will simply stabilize at a lower level. Besides, our technology is steadily improving so we'll soon be able to micro-manage fertility (in those whose religion/tradition allows it).
There was a recent NATURE article that described a complex feedback pathway that causes eggs to mature.
Looks like there may be plenty of places to insert the old monkey-wrench - and it's birth-control that would NOT kill fertilized eggs, so even the anti-abortion fanatics would be happy (well, they'd still rail against 'sinful behavior'... they just HATE the idea of anyone having fun).
BlackWater b...@barrk.net
Join 'em or perish.
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