Adolescent health

I have to admit leading a session on adolescent health with a table of Canadians and Americans with various backgrounds in epidemiology, research, public health, and recreation was not an easy task. Fortunately, that’s where my background in journalism and communications came into play.

In my former job reporting community sports in Northwest Territories and Nunavut, a good part of my event coverage revolved around high school athletes. I have heard countless stories about the health concerns facing today’s youth, and the positive influence sports can have to help them make healthy choices.

I’d also like to think I’m not that far away from my own adolescence to feel that I can still understand and relate to the health issues of this demographic today.

It was easy to pinpoint the big health issues that Aboriginal teenagers face. Health concerns such as physical inactivity, diabetes, substance abuse, and mental health were resonant in the various communities we worked in. It was great to be able to speak to NAHO’s various research, publications and programs that addressed many of these concerns, including the Healthy Living Web site and the Honouring Life Network.

What was also inspiring, however, was that for every health concern we talked about, everyone could speak to a different initiative they or their community was actively involved in. Whether it was health education sessions in schools, recreation programs that integrated traditional activities, or specific health promotion activities, it is obvious that there are a lot of good people doing good things for their communities.

In fact, this was one of the things that inspired me in my job as sports editor up North. For as many athletes I interviewed, I probably interviewed just as many recreation coordinators, tournament organizers, coaches, volunteers, etc. who gave countless hours to benefit our youth. This conference brought a similar feeling as I was surrounded by so many people who dedicated their lives to the health of our children.

And that’s good news. With the growing rate of Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth population, these kinds of roles are as important as ever to address the health of our children.