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The article discusses Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study of socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health in 34 countries. Secular trends in socioeconomic inequality in five domains of adolescent health were examined along with the relationship of socioeconomic inequality with national wealth and income inequality.

The article focuses on the consequences of early childbearing. Early childbearers were not the most advantaged or motivated young women but, even controlling for past aptitude, goals, and grades, an early birth was an additional hurdle. Early findings indicated that babies of young mothers are harmed less by the young age of the mother than by the social concomitants of early childbearing. Studies showed that with high quality care, birthweight outcomes were no worse than for older women.

The author focuses on the consideration of adolescence as a critical stage of development and an opportunity for setting a positive course for health and well-being. The author relates the four noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) which drive the patterns of mortality in youth identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. She adds that the reduction of alcohol consumption can have a positive impacts on violence level and traffic accidents.

The article discusses the proposed terse amendment to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Circular A-110. Circular A-110 governs administrative requirements in providing grants for higher education institutions, hospitals and nonprofit organizations. The amendment requires that agencies giving federal grants should make all data available to the public. It covers all data that care cited in support of a federal legislation or any action that has an effect in developing a regulation. The proposed methods for making data publicly available are mentioned.

The article offers information on the Lancet Commission, the commission of the journal intended for the health and wellbeing of adolescents around the globe. Topics discussed include the global forces for adolescent health, the sustainability of ecosystems, better childhood nutrition and health, and the investments for international development community.

Background Communication concerning sexual matters between parents and their adolescent children serve as a protective factor and exerts a favourable influence on adolescents' sexual behaviours. As limited data regarding parent-adolescent sex communication are available in China, this study was undertaken with the aim of exploring the patterns and related factors of such communication and its relationship with adolescent sexual behaviour. Study design Community-based data were collected in 2001 in Changchun, China. Unmarried adolescents 15-19 years of age (322 young men and 360 young women) were included in a survey using self-administered questionnaires. Results Overall, sex communication with parents was relatively infrequent. There was a significant gender difference in the pattern of sex communication, with male adolescents being more likely to talk with fathers and female adolescents with mothers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that gender of adolescents, quality of communication with mothers on general topics, and adolescent's perception of mother being the main source of sex knowledge were predictive of the level of sex communication between mother and her adolescent children. Conclusion This study reveals that communication regarding sexual matters between parents and adolescents was limited in China. The quality of communication on general topics between parents and their adolescent children is one of the important factors related to sex communication between them. It is essential that Chinese parents are better informed and skilled to be involved, in addition to school and community, in the sex education of their adolescent children. They should be able to communicate appropriately on sex-related issues with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]