Editorials
Positive Youth Development as a Strategy to Promote Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
Adolescents and young adults in the Unites States experience negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes, such as sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and pregnancy, at alarmingly high rates. Approximately 745,000 females younger than 20 years of age become pregnant every year. Birth rates among adolescents 15–19 years of age increased 3%, from 2005 to 2006 —the first increase since 1991 [1]. One in four (26%, 3.2 million) young women between 14 and 19 years of age in the United States is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) [2].The Health and Well Being of Adolescents in the United States, 2009
In this issue of the Journal, Mulye and her colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco, provide us with an overview of the health status of adolescents and young adults (ages 10-24) in the United States [1]. This review attempts to synthesize what we know about the health and well being of adolescents/young adults and the trends since 1990 by using the most recent available national data sets. In using multiple national data sets and reporting on the 10–24-year-old age group, the authors have highlighted the strengths and limitations of the available data.
