A first-of-its-kind study has found that almost half, 45.6%, of Australian teenagers are living with one or more chronic diseases, including diabetes or asthma, or a developmental condition like ADHD. The study has linked these diseases and conditions to factors such as an unhealthy diet and poor mental health.
A rise in the global prevalence of chronic diseases and developmental conditions such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has made them the focus of research. The product of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors, these conditions can profoundly affect a person’s quality of life and oftentimes begin during adolescence.
Researchers from the Matilda Center for Research in Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the University of Sydney, Australia, have led a first-of-its-kind study investigating links between chronic diseases and developmental conditions in teens and lifestyle behaviors, diet, and mental health.
“Alarmingly, this study shows that one in two Australian teenagers are living with a chronic disease or developmental condition,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Bridie Osman. “These conditions can have a profound impact. They can hinder a teenager’s ability to attend school or sports and can have social and developmental implications. Some of these chronic health conditions can also cause ongoing damage to the immune system and contribute to more severe diseases in later life. This finding is a wake-up call that we need to do more to prioritize the health of young people.”
The researchers collected self-report data from 5,014 Australian adolescents with an average age of just under 15. The sample was evenly split between males and females. Data was collected on chronic diseases and developmental conditions, sex, socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviors (including dietary intake, screen time, sleep and physical activity), and mental health. The researchers examined this data and how it overlapped with common and emerging health conditions in teenagers, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), asthma, eczema, chronic fatigue, hay fever, food allergies, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, ADHD and ASD.
Overall, a staggering 45.6% of adolescents reported having at least one of the 10 chronic diseases or developmental conditions the researchers examined. The most prevalent diseases were hay fever (23.2%) and asthma (15.1%); type 2 diabetes was the least prevalent (1.0%). Of the developmental conditions, ADHD was the most prevalent at 9.4%.
Sex affected disease rates, with 53.3% of females reporting having one or more conditions compared to 45.5% of males. Females specifically had higher odds of having eczema, food allergies, hay fever, and more persistent asthma symptoms than males. Whereas males had greater odds of having ADHD, ASD, and type 1 and 2 diabetes compared to females.
Having one or more common or emerging conditions was associated with poor dietary behaviors, specifically consuming more sugar-sweetened beverages, ultra-processed foods, or alcohol, as well as participating in more screen time, having severe rates of depression, severe anxiety, or reporting psychological distress. All of the 10 chronic and developmental conditions were individually associated with increased ultra-processed food intake, having drunk alcohol or smoked tobacco, or having psychological distress, more severe anxiety and depression.
“When looking at each of the diseases and conditions individually, we found that consuming more ultra-processed food, alcohol and smoking tobacco and having poorer mental health was linked to every one of the 10 different diseases and conditions we measured,” Osman said. “While previous research has proven the cause of some of these relationships, we need to do more long-term research to get a clearer understanding of the causes behind all these common and emerging diseases and developmental conditions in teenagers so we can prevent them.
“In the meantime, we need to ensure a whole-of-lifestyle approach when preventing and treating these diseases. What we do know is that all teenagers’ immune health will benefit from healthy diets, exercise, sleep, reducing screen time and good mental health.”
The use of self-report data and the risk that it introduces bias is an obvious limitation of the study. However, the researchers point out that the prevalence of poor lifestyle behaviors, mental health, chronic diseases and developmental conditions in the present study is in line with recent Australian government data, which they say adds confidence to their findings.
The study was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
