British teens a 'timebomb'

2004-01-08 12:12

London - British authorities are in alarm over teenage lifestyles, pointing to rampant drug abuse, indiscriminate unprotected sex with multiple partners and addiction to fast foods.

The British Medical Association believes today's adolescents will be the most infertile and the most obese generation "in the history of mankind".

The BMA said in a recent report that increased drinking, smoking and drug-taking among British teenagers was creating a "public health timebomb".

According to National Health Service statistics, one in 10 girls aged 16 to 19 are infected with chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease which can lead to infertility and often goes undetected for years.

The BMA report says more than 2% of 13 to 16-year-old are overweight or obese and 11% of 11 to 15-year-olds have used drugs in the past month.

It also says 25% of 15 and 16-year-olds are smokers.

Lack of exercise, an insatiable appetite for fatty, salty and sweet foods and sedentary lifestyle are also to blame, government agencies say.

Vivienne Nathanson, BMA head of science and ethics, says: "Young people in Britain are increasingly likely to be overweight, indulge in binge drinking, have a sexually transmitted infection and suffer mental health problems."

She called for their health needs to be targeted.

Russell Viner, consultant in adolescent medicine at University College Hospitals and Great Ormond Street Hospital, said the lack of services dedicated to young Britons was a scandal.

"The next generation will be the most infertile and the most obese in the history of mankind and it might also have the worst mental health," he said.

Nathanson queried how the NHS could cope with the looming health crisis.

Among recent government drives to address the problem are attempts to induce more pupils to actually play sport, rather than watch their heroes on television, and another to end the practice of parents ferrying their offspring to school in cars.

The "school run" is being blamed not only for morning traffic jams, but also for encouraging lazy habits.

Other initiatives include swinging increases in cigarette tax to drive the cost of a packet of 20 above £5 (R55), in an attempt to dissuade the young from smoking.

Among other measures urged by the BMA are banning the advertising of alcohol and increasing the provision of sexual health services.

"Access to services is key. Do we really expect a 15-year-old boy with gonorrhoea to take time off school to visit his doctor and talk about his sex life?" Nathanson queries. - Sapa-DPA

- SAPA