Children's Needs – Parenting Capacity - Digital Education Resource ...

6Child development and parents’responses – adolescenceChapter 6 focuses on adolescence and includes two sections. The first looksat children aged 11 to 15 years and the second young people aged 16 years andover, and as for all age groups the information is research-based. Although there isconsiderable information for children up to the age of 15 years, less is known aboutthe needs and experiences of older adolescents.The same format used for younger children is followed here. The expecteddevelopment for the age group is covered prior to exploring the possible consequencesof parental mental illness, learning disability, problem substance use and domesticviolence. Summary points at the end of each age group identify the key problemsand the protective factors.Children aged 11–15 yearsHealthExpected healthChildren and young people should have regular medical and dental checks.Immunisations need to be up to date: BCG for all those at risk of tuberculosis andimmunisation against rubella for girls.The body changes which take place at this age can confuse and distress children.The main health concerns for teenagers are those related to appearance such asskin and weight issues, and those linked to sexual health including contraception(Gleeson, Robinson and Neal 2002). For example, some girls dislike the changespuberty brings and seek to reverse them through dieting. One in every 150 fifteenyear old girls in the United Kingdom is affected by anorexia nervosa (Royal Collegeof Psychiatrists 2008). The rate is negligible among teenage boys. However, mostadolescents generally eat a sufficiently balanced diet to ensure their physicaldevelopment. Of greater concern are the rising levels of obesity among this agegroup. Around one in four 11- to 15-year-olds is considered obese. This is an increasefor the period 1995 to 2004 from 14% to 24% for boys and from 15% to 26% forgirls (NHS Information Centre 2006).Health needs for this age group are mainly due to chronic illness and mentalhealth problems. A survey of children’s mental health suggested 11% of childrenaged 11–16 years have a mental disorder, with boys (13%) being more at risk ofexperiencing poor mental health than girls (10%) (Green et al. 2005).