Health issues and preventive health strategies for adolescent girls

As adolescent girls have specific healthcare needs, this paper was designed to provide a better understanding of their healthcare needs in both physical and psychosocial terms. After conducting a targeted review of the literature on children and adolescents, we identified factors of importance to physical health as body weight, physical activity, menstruation, sexual knowledge and attitude and to psychosocial health as anxiety, interpersonal relationships, depression, and suicide behavior. Reflecting these factors, this paper presents four preventive suggestions to clinical practice, education, and research to facilitate improvements in adolescent girl's health. These suggestions include: 1) strengthening health education and media responsibility with regard to adolescent girl health; 2) improving awareness of the needs of adolescent girls within healthcare and education organizations; 3) making health guidelines for promoting proper health behavior in adolescent girls; and 4) mobilizing nurses to assert the health of adolescent girls in clinical, education, and research fields. This is the first paper that focuses on the health needs of adolescent Taiwanese girls. The authors hope that more people become involved in the care of adolescent girl's health in Taiwan.