Publication: Beginning a Family and Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle: A Review of the Global Evidence
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2016-05
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2016-06-21
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Decisions during youth have great long-term impacts on human development, which is key to poverty alleviation and economic development. During adolescence, two of the primary transitions are beginning a family and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Youth face many choices and challenges around these key decisions, such as when to initiate sex, when to marry, when to have children, and whether to engage in risky behaviors – all of which affect their future health and future opportunities. Consequences of these early decisions can have long-lasting effects on adolescents and their communities, potentially increasing public health costs and depleting human capital. This note briefly presents program and policy approaches that have been implemented in different contexts for addressing these two key transition periods of youth: beginning a family and adopting a healthy lifestyle. It concludes by presenting a set of programmatic lessons and investment recommendations based on the global evidence.
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“Moucheraud, Corrina; Hasan, Rifat. 2016. Beginning a Family and Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle: A Review of the Global Evidence. Policy Brief: Malawi;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24573 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Beginning a Family and Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-05)Decisions during youth have great long-term impacts on human development, which is key to poverty alleviation and economic development. During adolescence, two of the primary transitions are beginning a family and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Youth face many choices and challenges around these key decisions, such as when to initiate sex, when to marry, when to have children, and whether to engage in risky behaviors- all of which affect their future health and future opportunities. Consequences of these early decisions can have long-lasting effects on adolescents and their communities, potentially increasing public health costs and depleting human capital. This policy brief discusses a situation analysis of adolescent girls in Malawi with respect to these transitions and highlights the challenges they face. Specifically, issues of reproductive health (fertility, maternal health, use of family planning), early marriage, use of family planning, nutrition and risky behaviors are analyzed and presented.Publication Beginning a Family and Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11-25)Decisions during youth have great long-term impacts on human development, which is key to poverty alleviation and economic development. During adolescence, two of the primary transitions are beginning a family and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Youth face many choices and challenges around these key decisions, such as when to initiate sex, when to marry, when to have children, and whether to engage in risky behaviors – all of which affect their future health and future opportunities. Consequences of these early decisions can have long-lasting effects on adolescents and their communities, potentially increasing public health costs and depleting human capital. This note briefly presents program and policy approaches that have been implemented in different contexts for addressing these two key transition periods of youth: beginning a family and adopting a healthy lifestyle. It concludes by presenting a set of programmatic lessons and investment recommendations based on the global evidence.Publication Beginning a Family and Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11-25)Decisions during youth have great long-term impacts on human development, which is key to poverty alleviation and economic development. During adolescence, two of the primary transitions are beginning a family and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Youth face many choices and challenges around these key decisions, such as when to initiate sex, when to marry, when to have children, and whether to engage in risky behaviors- all of which affect their future health and future opportunities. Consequences of these early decisions can have long-lasting effects on adolescents and their communities, potentially increasing public health costs and depleting human capital. This policy brief discusses a situation analysis of adolescent girls in Zambia with respect to these transitions and highlights the challenges they face. Specifically, issues of reproductive health (fertility, maternal health, use of family planning), early marriage, use of family planning, nutrition and risky behaviors are analyzed and presented.Publication Early Childhood Development(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-05)Teenage pregnancies have potential negative consequences on the next generation. Children born to adolescent mothers are particularly at risk in terms of health, nutrition, cognitive and socio-emotional development. Evidence shows that the early years – especially the first 1,000 days – are crucially important for lifetime health, learning, and productivity. Particularly for the most vulnerable children and families, early childhood development (ECD) is a high return investment. This policy brief presents evidence on the health, nutrition and overall development of children in Malawi with a focus on those born to adolescent mothers. Analysis of issues such as infant and child mortality, malnutrition, incidence of illness, healthcare seeking behaviors, protective practices, and late entry for school, pre-school experience and development are discussed.Publication Early Childhood Development(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-05)Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a holistic concept that refers to the physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, and linguistic development of young children until the time they transition to primary school. This policy brief highlights that developmental gaps in the early years of a child’s life do not narrow by themselves over time, are likely to be particularly severe for children born to teenage mothers, and lead to costly consequences for individuals, families, and societies. In turn, this policy brief also documents that strong evidence exist on the significant benefits that quality ECD interventions yield in both the short and longer terms. Different types of ECD interventions are most relevant and are complementary at different times of a child’s development. For example, interventions to promote infant and child health and to reduce malnutrition are most effective in the 1,000-day window from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday, and programs that enhance both early stimulation and nutrition are more likely to generate long-lasting impacts than nutrition alone. 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