An Overlooked Priority: Puberty in Sub-Saharan Africa
Open accessAbstract
Early adolescence remains an overlooked window of opportunity for public health intervention with girls and boys in sub-Saharan Africa. Minimal health data exist on pubescent girls and boys. Considerable morbidity and mortality related to HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy emerge soon after puberty, suggesting the importance of targeting early adolescents. The fundamental goal of primary prevention would be better served if girls and boys between the ages of 10 and 14 years were targeted for effective and contextually relevant interventions. Such interventions should address healthy transitions to young adulthood to effectively advance the public health agenda with postpubescent (aged 15 to 24 years) young women and men. The global health community is overdue to build the empirical database for intervention with this age group.
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There exists a window of opportunity to reach girls at menarche, as their bodies are biologically changing and they are encountering profound new social dynamics within their families and communities.
“There exists a window of opportunity to reach girls at menarche, as their bodies are biologically changing and they are encountering profound new social dynamics within their families and communities [42,43].”
From A Time for Global Action: Addressing Girls’ Menstrual Hygiene Management Needs in Schools (2016) · cites this paper as [42]
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Bearinger, L. H., Sieving, R. E., Ferguson, J., & Sharma, V. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)60367-5 · Cited by 762 · see citing works
Sommer, M. (2009) · Culture, Health & Sexuality · doi:10.1080/13691050902722372 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
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A Time for Global Action: Addressing Girls’ Menstrual Hygiene Management Needs in Schools
Sommer, M., Caruso, B. A., Sahin, M., Calderon, T., Cavill, S., Mahon, T., & Phillips-Howard, P. A. (2016) · PLOS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001962 · Cited by 435 · see citing works
“There exists a window of opportunity to reach girls at menarche, as their bodies are biologically changing and they are encountering profound new social dynamics within their families and communities [42,43].”
BackgroundSelf-citationSommer, M., Hirsch, J. S., Nathanson, C., & Parker, R. G. (2015) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2014.302525 · Cited by 401 · see citing works
Self-citationSommer, M., Ackatia-Armah, N., Connolly, S., & Smiles, D. (2015) · Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education · doi:10.1080/03057925.2013.871399 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Sommer, M.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sommer, Marni
- ORCID
- Sommer, Marni
- Venue
- American Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- American Public Health Association
- Published
- 2011-06
- Volume
- 101
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 979-981
- ISSN
- 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-0048
- PMC
- PMC3093270
- OpenAlex
- W2069361227
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Health and Behaviors
- Keywords
- puberty, early adolescence, HIV prevention, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancy, primary prevention, transition to young adulthood, sub-Saharan Africa, health data gaps
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Female, Health Priorities, Humans, Male, Pregnancy, Primary Prevention, Puberty, Public Health Administration, Risk Factors, HIV Infections, Africa South of the Sahara
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