Almost half of Aussie teens live with a chronic disease or developmental condition

Research published today shows almost half (45.6 percent) of Australian teens are living with chronic diseases or developmental conditions like attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism (ASD). The study links the conditions to unhealthy lifestyles, diets and poor mental health, prompting calls for further research and government action. 

Led by the University of Sydney and published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, the study surveyed over 5,000 Australian adolescents. 

It is the first of its kind in Australia to link six unhealthy behaviours and mental health with common and emerging health conditions in teens. Those conditions are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), asthma, eczema, chronic fatigue, hay fever, food allergies, type 1/type 2 diabetes, ADHD and ASD.

Lead author Dr Bridie Osman from the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use said chronic disease and developmental conditions in teenagers are often overlooked as a serious public health concern.

“Alarmingly, this study shows one in two Australian teenagers lives with either a chronic disease or developmental condition,” Dr Osman said.

“These conditions can have a profound impact: they can hinder teens’ ability to attend school or sports and can even have social and developmental implications. They have the potential to cause ongoing damage to the immune system and contribute to more severe diseases in later life.

“This finding shows we need to do more to prioritise the health of young people,” she said. 

Researchers found the most common chronic diseases in teenagers were hay fever (23 percent) and asthma (15 percent). The most common developmental condition was ADHD, affecting nine percent of participants. 

Overall, female teenagers who consumed more ultra-processed foods, sugar sweetened beverages or alcohol, spent more time on screens or who had a mental health condition were more likely to have at least one chronic disease or developmental condition. 

Compared to females, male teenagers were found to have a disproportionally higher risk of disease when they had a mental health condition.  

Dr Osman said the study did not demonstrate that diseases and conditions are caused by unhealthy lifestyles or poor mental health but showed a clear link requiring further investigation. 

“When looking at each of the diseases and conditions individually, we found consuming more ultra-processed food, alcohol, smoking tobacco and having poorer mental health was linked to every one of the 10 different diseases and conditions we measured.     

“While previous research has proven the cause of some of these relationships, we need to do more long-term research to get a clearer understanding of the causes of all these common and emerging diseases and development conditions in teenagers so we can prevent them. 

“In the meantime, we need to ensure a whole-of-lifestyle approach to preventing and treating them. What we do know is that all teenagers’ immune health will benefit from healthy diets, exercise, sleep, reducing screen time and good mental health.”