Adolescents

The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes articles and communications in the interdisciplinary area of environmental health sciences and public health. The Section “Adolescents” will focus on this special population.

Adolescence is a period of rapid physical, cognitive, and social development, but very sensitive and critical, as during this period, the changes that occur tend to consolidate and perpetuate into the future. Habit acquisition is important: it happens since childhood, but it is in adolescence when habit are fixed due to the increase in independent decision making. The socioeconomic and educational environment, as well as the family and peers (friends, classmates, etc.) are determining factors regarding what happens to adolescents, how they evolve and develop, and how they acquire habits and customs. 

Focusing on health aspects, probably due to lifestyle, there are pathologies that appear at increasingly younger ages and increase their prevalence in adolescence, such as obesity or metabolic syndrome, among others. Unfortunately, far from disappearing, they turn into more serious and worrying stages in adulthood. Therefore, adolescence also seems to be critical in terms of population health prevention. 

This Section aims to be a reference for a better understanding of adolescents, including how the environment and society interacts with the biology, emotions, and relationships of adolescents, allowing for a healthy development.