Gender and Health in Early Adolescence: Results from the Global Early Adolescent Study
In 2005 the World Health Organization recognized gender as a structural driver of inequalities in health. While health patterns unfold throughout the life course, it is during the transitional period of early adolescence, 10-14 years of age, that a gender divide in health begins to emerge with consequences that exacerbate across adolescence and through adulthood. While the original understanding of this divide was mostly rooted in a biomedical conceptualization of gender (often conflated with sex), we have moved toward a biosocial understanding of gender as a socio-cultural process that interacts with and regulates the bodies through differential patterns of exposures and practices. However, there are limited data outside of the United States and other Western societies that contribute to our understanding of the ways in which gender shapes health and wellbeing among early adolescents across diverse cultural settings. The event will address the following points:
● The critical influence of gender socialization in shaping health related exposures, practices and outcomes
● Early adolescence as a prime time for gender transformative interventions
● Young people's complex and fluid outlook on gender
Moderator:
Caroline Moreau, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Director of Research: GEAS, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Presenters:
Robert Wm. Blum, MD, MPH, PhD
Professor
Principal Investigator: GEAS, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Astha Ramaiya, DrPH
Research Associate: GEAS, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Kristin Mmari, DrPH
Associate Professor
Director of Intervention Research and Evaluation: GEAS, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Elizabeth M. Saewyc, PhD, RN, FSAHM, FCAHS, FAAN, FCAN
Professor
Director, School of Nursing
Executive Director, Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre (SARAVYC)
Ben Cislaghi, PhD
Associate Professor
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
