Adolescent Health : A Generation at Risk / Fred M. Hechinger.

A 3-day conference brought together health and education experts to explore responses to adolescent health problems and to suggest ways to implement the recommendations put forward in "Fateful Choices: Healthy Youth for the 21st Century," by Fred M. Hechinger. Conference participants identified a number of adolescent health problems and the areas where solutions could be found. Effective teaching, especially when educators and health professionals cooperate, can give children and young adolescents the kind of information that helps them make sound judgments about leading healthy and productive lives. Information, knowledge, and the skill to make intelligent decisions are essential antidotes to foolish, misleading advice from uninformed peers or the lore of the street. Many existing barriers to health care can be addressed through accessible services targeting youth. A number of successful programs were highlighted, with the majority in urban areas. Alcohol, drugs, nicotine, and violence are other problems facing adolescents that can be addressed through education and programs targeting youth. Ensuring adolescent health will require the cooperation of the media and the concerted efforts of public and private sectors. Although this is expensive, the costs are insignificant when compared with the costs of neglect. (Contains 21 references.) (SLD)

Carnegie Quarterly, v37 n4 Fall 1992. ericd

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