Global trends in adolescent health
R. W. Blum
Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic, Minneapolis 55455.
Increasingly, morbidity and mortality trends for young people in developing
nations are paralleling those in the industrialized world. As infectious
causes of mortality diminish, unintentional injuries, suicide, homicide,
war, and maternal mortality represent the primary causes of death in the
second decade of life for most nations where data are maintained. As
developing nations increasingly place priority on the education of their
youth, early marriage and precocious child rearing are discouraged, and
other problems, such as out-of-wedlock childbirth and illicit abortions,
emerge. Problems such as substance abuse and suicide arise with the urban
migration, increased unemployment, and disruption of traditional social
structures that are experienced as developing countries industrialize.
