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NEWS BRIEFING: The health of teens and young people could be going backwards 

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***Full briefing recording now available*** While the health of young children has been improving in recent decades, the world's teens and young adults risk being left behind, according to Australian and international researchers. The Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing has investigated the health and wellbeing challenges faced by the first generation of true digital natives - a group that will also live their entire lives under the shadow of climate change. The researchers say by 2030, a billion teens will live in countries where they are at risk of poor health, with mental health problems and obesity linked to easy access to ultra-processed foods among the key health issues young people face today, while the rise of vaping threatens recent progress made on tobacco use.

Journal/conference: The Lancet

Research: Paper

Organisation/s: Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), The Kids Research Institute Australia, The Australian National University, RMIT University, Monash University, The University of Sydney, Edith Cowan University, Burnet Institute

Funder: Funding for the first and second in-person meetings of this Commission was provided by the Gates Foundation. The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the Gates Foundation. Part-funding and in-kind support for the convening of the second meeting of the Commissioners, reviewers, and Youth Commissioners was provided by the Human Sciences Research Council (Cape Town, South Africa). Other funding for the Commission was provided by Exemplars in Global Health, and the Commission acknowledges funding support and collaboration from the FIA Foundation to the World Resources Institute for their work on road safety.

Media release

From: Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI)

Speaker:

  • Professor Peter Azzopardi, Commission Member and Leader of the Global Adolescent Health Group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Head of Adolescent Health and Wellbeing at The Kids Research Institute of Australia

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Report at a Glance:

  • A global report has found poor mental health, rising obesity rates, exposure to violence and climate change are among the key challenges facing our adolescents today
  • Funding currently doesn’t match the scale of the health problems faced by young people. While adolescents make up 24 per cent of the population (about two billion people), they receive just 2.4 per cent of global development and health funding
  • By 2030, more than half of adolescents will be living in countries where their demographic experiences an excess burden of complex disease
  • The researchers stated urgent action and accountability was needed, in collaboration with adolescents, to create safer spaces and meaningful change

Poor mental health, rising obesity rates, exposure to violence and climate change are among the key challenges facing our adolescents today, according to a global report.

The landmark report, by experts in adolescent health including from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), has revealed how supporting young people’s health and wellbeing could improve economic, social and public health for generations to come.

The 2025 Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing found investment in adolescents’ health and wellbeing doesn’t match the scale of the problems faced by young people. Bringing together 44 Commissioners and 10 Youth Commissioners, the Commission stated while adolescents make up 24 per cent of the population (about two billion people), they receive just 2.4 per cent of global development and health funding.

By 2030, more than half of adolescents will be living in countries where their demographic experiences an excess burden of complex disease.

The report found the ongoing challenges faced by this age group included:

  • High cases of poor mental health and limited support services
  • Increasing rates of obesity due to complex environmental and commercial factors
  • Lack of digital safety and exposure to cyberbullying and misinformation
  • Experiencing violence in conflict-affected areas and within the home
  • Ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures
  • Widening gaps in reproductive rights, particularly for young women
  • Environmental challenges and climate change impacts

Published in The Lancet, the report predicted that by 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s adolescents will be living in urban areas. While this potentially brings benefits, rapid unplanned urbanisation may also accelerate poverty, isolation and insecure housing, it found.

The report stated that urban, public spaces should be more amenable and tailored to young people, such as safe and engaging spaces to congregate, which would have a powerful effect on health outcomes.

It also found urgent action was required to better protect young people from violence and ensure equitable access to education and reproductive rights. Almost half of adolescents have experienced violence, profoundly impacting their social and emotional development and wellbeing. Whilst global efforts have largely closed the gender gap in high school education, by 2030, almost a third of young women will not be in post-secondary education, employment or training.

MCRI Professor Peter Azzopardi said there was a great need for targeted actions that focused on early intervention.

“Meaningful, evidence-based, multi-sector partnerships with young people will be the key to improving health and wellbeing,” he said. But we must remain accountable by ensuring that any progress is monitored closely and reported on regularly. As our population ages and fertility rates decline, the health of our adolescents becomes even more crucuial.”

Potential solutions and actions outlined included:

  • Advocating for change and amplifying the needs and voices of young people
  • Developing goal-centred approaches through the Office of the UN Secretary with a focus on measuring and improving adolescent health and wellbeing
  • Involving young people in community-based environmental programs
  • Scaling up public health programs that improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes and reduce gender-based violence
  • Strengthening actions within health and education sectors while reinforcing collaborations
  • Limiting the exposure of advertising targeting adolescents
  • Promoting and encouraging the healthy use of social media and online spaces

MCRI Professor Susan Sawyer said partnerships with young people were a cornerstone of the report, which aimed to draw on their capability and leadership to help shape the world they wanted to live in.

“This report represents a wealth of current information about the state of our young people’s health,” she said. The findings are alarming and they demand urgent action and accountability, in collaboration with adolescents, to create safer spaces and meaningful change.”

But Professor Sawyer said lack of national leadership around adolescent health remained a major barrier to overcoming the challenges.

“A common myth is that adolescents are healthy and therefore don’t need health services,” she said. Yet our findings show that in every country, adolescents need access to responsive health services that can confidentially identify and respond to their emerging health needs.”

The report will be launched at the World Health Organization’s 78th Health Assembly in Geneva.

Publication: Sarah Baird, Shakira Choonara, Peter S Azzopardi, Prerna Banati, Judith Bessant, Olivia Biermann, Anthony Capon, Mariam Claeson, Pamela Y Collins, Nicole De Wet-Billings, Surabhi Dogra, Yanhui Dong, Kate L Francis, Luwam T Gebrekristos, Allison K Groves, Simon I Hay, David Imbago-Jacome, Aaron P Jenkins, Caroline W Kabiru, Elissa C Kennedy, Luo Li, Chunling Lu, Jun Ma, Terry McGovern, Augustina Mensa-Kwao, Sanyu A Mojola, Jason M Nagata, Adesola O Olumide, Olayinka Omigbodun, Molly O’Sullivan, Audrey Prost, Jennifer H Requejo, Yusra R Shawar, Jeremy Shiffman, Avi Silverman, Yi Song, Sharlene Swartz, Rita Tamambang, Henrik Urdal, Joseph L Ward, George C Patton, Susan M Sawyer, Alex Ezeh and Russell M Viner. ‘A call to action: the second Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing,’ The Lancet. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00503-3

Available for interview:

Professor Peter Azzopardi, MCRI Group Leader, Global Adolescent Heath

Professor Susan Sawyer, MCRI Group Leader, Adolescent Heath

About Murdoch Children’s Research Institute:

Murdoch Children's Research Institute is the largest child health research institute in Australia committed to making discoveries and developing treatments to improve child and adolescent health in Australia and around the world. They are pioneering new treatments, trialling better vaccines and improving ways of diagnosing and helping sick babies, children and adolescents. It is one of the only research institutes in Australia to offer genetic testing to find answers for families of children with previously undiagnosed conditions.

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