The World Health Organization defines adolescents as those people between 10 and 19 years of age. Adolescence is one of the most rapid and formative phases of human development, and the distinctive physical, cognitive, social, emotional and sexual development that takes place during adolescence demands special attention in national development policies, programs and plans.

Adolescence is one of life’s fascinating and perhaps most complex stages, a time when young people take on new responsibilities and experiment with independence. They search for identity, learn to apply values acquired in early childhood, and develop skills that will help them become caring and responsible adults. When adolescents are supported and encouraged by caring adults, they thrive in unimaginable ways, becoming resourceful and contributing members of families and communities.

The health status of an adolescent determines the health status in his/her adulthood. Many serious diseases in adulthood have their roots in adolescence. The main health issues faced by the adolescents include mental health problems, early pregnancy and childbirth, HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) and other infectious diseases, violence, unintentional injuries, malnutrition, and substance abuse.

Adolescents have increased nutritional requirements demanding diet rich in protein, vitamins, calcium, iodine, phosphorus, and iron due to rapid growth spurt and increased physical activity. NFHS-3 data show, in the age group 15–19 years, 47% girls and 58% boys were thin, 56% girls and 30% boys were anemic, 2.4% girls and 31.7% boys were overweight, and 2/1000 adolescent girls and 1/1000 adolescent boys suffer from diabetes. They are also highly prone for eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or binge eating due to body dissatisfaction and depression.

Use of mass media is higher among adolescents (male 88.2% and female 71.5%). It plays an important role in habit picking and decides their lifestyle pattern. Its influence is clearly shown in a study from Chennai done in the age group 11–17 years reporting that 90% eat either food or snacks while watching TV, 82% buy food products and snacks based on advertisement, 59% skipped outdoor activities for TV, 42% follows diet, and 42% exercise to get the body like their favorite media personality. Television viewing in childhood and adolescence is associated with overweight, poor fitness, smoking, and raised cholesterol in adulthood.

Mental health problems are one of the most neglected issues among adolescent. Mortality and morbidity due to mental disorders in adolescents increased and topped in recent years. A study from Goa, among 16–24 years old, shows 3.9% of youths reported suicidal behaviors with females four times more prone than males. This suicidal behavior is independently associated with factors such as absenteeism, independent decision-making, premarital sex, sexual abuse, physical abuse from parents, and mental disorders. In India, suicide among adolescents is higher than any other age groups, that is, 40% of suicide deaths in men and 56% of suicide deaths in women occurred in 15–29 years of age.

The prevalence rate of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders in the community has been found to be 6.46%, and in schools, it was 23.33%, and the reporting systems of psychiatric disorders in children are found to be inadequate. From the above studies, it is evident that a considerable proportion of adolescent have mental health problems

India, in 2001–2003, deaths due to injuries constituted nearly 20% of the total deaths in 5–29 age groups. About 77.5% of adolescents are at risky behaviors, ignore traffic rules leading to road traffic accidents and deaths, as reported in a study from Delhi. Sexual abuse is one of the major problems faced by adolescent girls and boys equally. These problems mostly go unnoticed as the victim suffers in silence because of fear and social stigma. This indirectly affects the physical health, mental health, and academic performance.