Adolescent health: a report to the U.S. Congress

Abstract

This article reports findings from an assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), an analytical arm of the U.S. Congress. In brief, OTA found the conventional wisdom that American adolescents as a group are so healthy that they do not require health and related services is not justified. Even more disturbing, U.S. adolescents often face formidable barriers in trying to obtain health care. OTA suggested that Congress could act to 1) increase adolescents' access to health care, most effectively by supporting school- or community-based comprehensive health services specifically for adolescents, 2) restructure and reinvigorate the federal role in adolescent health, most visibly by creating an office of adolescent health in the U.S. Executive branch, and 3) improve adolescents' social environments, by providing more support to the families of adolescents, limiting adolescents' access to firearms, supporting the expansion of recreational opportunities for adolescents, and further supporting opportunities for community service. Congressional actions taken since the release of OTA's report are summarized.