Alcohol misuse: tackling the UK epidemic - London

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Helping adolescent parents
The health and development of teenage mothers and their children has been shown to benefit from
programmes promoting access to antenatal care, targeted support by health visitors, social workers or ‘lay
mothers’ and provision of social support, educational opportunities and pre-school education. 173
Specific
interventions including the provision of supplementary nutrition, social support, education opportunities
and pre-school education, are likely to be effective in reducing the adverse outcomes of teenage
pregnancies. Improving the housing conditions of some teenage parents and their children may also be
important. 173
Summary
There is considerable diversity in sexual experience among adolescents. Many enjoy safe,
consenting, sex, often as part of a steady relationship. However, there is a great deal of concern
about the growing prevalence of STIs among this age group. These can cause preventable infertility,
ectopic pregnancy, hospital admissions for pelvic inflammatory disease and psychological stress.
Policy makers also wish to lower the rates of unwanted adolescent pregnancy, which is often
associated with social disadvantage and poor mental and physical health of mother and child.
Rates of teenage pregnancy are higher in areas of socio-economic deprivation. Both STIs and
teenage pregnancy are associated with early sexual initiation, sexual incompetence, lower education
level and informal sources of information about sex. Certain groups of adolescents are more likely
than others to experience teenage pregnancy and STIs.
Governments across the UK have developed targets and strategies for reducing STIs and unwanted
pregnancies. These strategies involve multifaceted approaches including improving adolescents’
social skills, providing better sex education and increasing the uptake of contraceptive services. The
sexual health of adolescents does seem to be amenable to intervention. School based education can
be effective, especially when linked to access to contraceptive services. Public health campaigns and
community-level programmes have also proved successful in the past. Prompt diagnosis and
treatment of STIs is crucial and good contraceptive services can result in lower conception rates.
The services available to adolescents are therefore important for their sexual health. It is often
suggested that services for adolescents are most effective when youth-oriented and geared to local
needs. Adequate follow up after service use is vital to avoid unwanted pregnancy and the recurrence
of STIs. Education and services for adolescents should be targeted towards those at greatest risk. In
light of the social disadvantage that can follow adolescent parenthood, it is vital that young parents
are well supported to avoid unnecessary psychological strain and ensure the best possible start to
the lives of their children.
British Medical Association Adolescent health