Anxiety tops concerns for teenagers contacting Jigsaw

Anxiety is the most common concern raised by young people seeking help with mental health issues, a new study indicates.

Low mood, anger, family problems and stress were the other main issues raised by over 10,000 young people attending the Jigsaw mental health service between 2009 and 2015.

The analysis of attendance figures for 2013 shows there are significant differences in the issues of concern between boys and girls and between young people of different ages.

For young women, anxiety, family problems and isolation issues emerged as the main concerns, according to the study published in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine.

For boys, the main issues were anxiety, anger and family problems.

Girls are more likely to experience anxiety, thoughts of hurting themselves, low self-esteem and feelings of sadness or loss. Boys were more likely to present with anger and drug use.

Headstrong,the national centre for youth mental health, set up Jigsaw in response to the need for supports for young people.

The service provides free mental health supports for young people aged 15-25 years in 10 communities around the State.

Almost one-third of young people referred themselves to the service, while 27 per cent of referrals came from parents and 12 per cent from a GP.

Schools study shows fitness level stalls in teenage girls

The fitness level of Irish girls stalls in their early teenage years, with the average 16-year-old performing no better in tests than a 12-year-old, the results of a countrywide schools-based challenge show.

Boys’ fitness improves over the same age period, with 16-year-olds on average 33 per cent fitter than 12-year-olds, according to the challenge taken by 148 schools.

“The fact that girls are not showing the same improvement in cardiovascular fitness as boys is clearly a cause for concern,” said Prof Niall Moyna of DCU’s school of health and human performance, who set up the challenge four years ago.

Related research into children with low levels of fitness has found evidence of heart disease in the arteries of 15-year-olds, he said. The same children were also found to have high cholesterol, blood pressure and fat levels.

Both boys and girls improved their performance after undertaking a six-week fitness programme that forms part of the challenge, which was taken by more than 10,000 children this year.

The average improvement for boys was 12 per cent while for girls, coming from a lower base, it was 19 per cent.

Prof Moyna says a variety of social and cultural reasons may explain young girls’ poor fitness levels.

“There are issues around the continuing participation of girls in sport as they grow older. They may become unused to pushing themselves, to being out of breath, even to the fact their make-up could run.”

However, he is optimistic about the future because of a “paradigm shift” in recent years which has made it more acceptable for girls to continue in sport, as well as an increase in team sport options.

While Irish boys and girls are well above the European average for fitness for their age group, this is not regarded as an accurate guide to the minimum fitness level required for optimal health, according to Prof Moyna.

The European figures are a “race to the bottom” in terms of performance and Ireland should develop its own national norms, he maintains.

“Lifestyle behaviours tend to track from childhood to adulthood. Children who are unfit and overweight in their teenage years will likely be unfit and overweight as adults.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will today present prizes to the most improved schools in the challenge, which is sponsored by Aviva Health.  : The Schools' Fitness Challenge

View more on Irish Times/Health here

Teenagers and Heart Disease

Irish teenagers as young as fifteen years are already showing signs of the early onset of heart disease.

Research has found that teenage boys are displaying high blood pressure and high cholesterol, directly related to being overweight and unfit.

The study of teenage boys, carried out at the centre for Preventative Medicine at DCU, has highlighted the serious health problems that overweight teenagers are facing.

Professor Niall Moyna carried out the study, which he says was unique because the children were examined for signs of heart disease not just risk factors.

"We looked at the arteries in the neck, that supply the brain, and we also looked at the arteries in their arm, which tells us what's happening in their heart.

"We found in both, that the unfit kids, had higher levels of plague in the arteries, increasing the risk of stroke."

The results for boys who were classed as "moderately fit" and "high fit" did not differ, an indication any form of exercise reduced the risk of heart disease.

Previous studies have shown that the damage can be undone but there is a small window of opportunity, according to Professor Moyna.

"Children have great plasticity and the studies show that up until their mid 20s they can reduce this. But we all know it's very difficult to change a behaviour. It's all about getting children to adopt health behaviours in the first place."

The teenagers examined had taken part in the Schools' Fitness Challenge, which is now in its fourth year.

As part of the programme students have their initial fitness levels measured, before undertaking a six weeks of training. Afterwards their fitness levels are tested again.

Last year 13,067 students participated in the challenge.

Secondary schools interested in the 2015 challenge can register online on Aviva's schools fitness challenge.