38. There are two important policy milestones, ................, on the road to the protection and welfare of the
elderly.
(A) the National Policy and the National Policy
(B) the National Population and the National Policy on the Young
(C) the National Population Policy and the National Policy on the Elderly
(D) the National Population Policy and the National Policy on Older Persons
Answers
Answer:
Abstract
The young people in the age group of 10-24 yr in India constitutes one of the precious resources of India characterized by growth and development and is a phase of vulnerability often influenced by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect their health and safety. Nearly 10-30 per cent of young people suffer from health impacting behaviours and conditions that need urgent attention of policy makers and public health professionals. Nutritional disorders (both malnutrition and over-nutrition), tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, other substance use, high risk sexual behaviours, stress, common mental disorders, and injuries (road traffic injuries, suicides, violence of different types) specifically affect this population and have long lasting impact. Multiple behaviours and conditions often coexist in the same individual adding a cumulative risk for their poor health. Many of these being precursors and determinants of non communicable diseases (NCDs) including mental and neurological disorders and injuries place a heavy burden on Indian society in terms of mortality, morbidity, disability and socio-economic losses. Many health policies and programmes have focused on prioritized individual health problems and integrated (both vertical and horizontal) coordinated approaches are found lacking. Healthy life-style and health promotion policies and programmes that are central for health of youth, driven by robust population-based studies are required in India which will also address the growing tide of NCDs and
Keywords: Health promotion, high risk sexual behaviours, India, mental health problems, nutrition disorders, road traffic injuries, substance use, suicides, young people
Introduction
Young people form precious human resources in every country. However, there is considerable ambiguity in the definition of young people and terms like young, adolescents, adults, young adults are often used interchangeably. World Health Organization (WHO) defines ‘adolescence’ as age spanning 10 to 19 yr, “youth” as those in 15-24 yr age group and these two overlapping age groups as “young people” covering the age group of 10-24 yr1. Adults include a broader age range and all those in 20 to 64 yr2. Adolescence is further divided into early adolescence (11-14 yr), middle adolescence (15-17 yr), and late adolescence (18-21 yr)3. Individuals in the age group of 20 - 24 yr are also referred to as young adults4. The National Youth Policy of India (2003) defines the youth population as those in the age group of 15-35 yr5.
Population aged 10-24 years accounts for 373 million (30.9%) of the 1,210 million of India's population with every third person belonging to this age group. Among them, 110 and 273 million live in urban and rural India, respectively. Males account for 195 million and females 178 million, respectively6. As per the National Sample Survey (NSS), (2007-08) 32.8 per cent of this group attend educational institutions and 46 per cent (2004-05) are employed7.
What characterizes adolescents and youth? Youth - the critical phase of life, is a period of major physical, physiological, psychological, and behavioural changes with changing patterns of social interactions and relationships. Youth is the window of opportunity that sets the stage for a healthy and productive adulthood and to reduce the likelihood of health problems in later years. A myriad of biological changes occur during puberty including increase in height and weight, completion of skeletal growth accompanied by an increase in skeletal mass, sexual maturation and changes in body composition. The succession of these events during puberty is generally consistent among the adolescents often influenced by age of onset, gender, duration, along with the individual variations. These changes are also accompanied by significant stress on young people and those around them, while influencing and affecting their relationships with their peers and adults. It is also an age of impulsivity accompanied by vulnerability, influenced by peer groups and media that result in changes in perception and practice, and characterized by decision making skills/abilities along with acquisition of new emotional, cognitive and social skills3.