Health issues among youth and young adults in the military

1 Youth and Young Adults in the Military Population and summary The target population for this discussion is the youth and young adults in the military. Ref noted that armed forces prefer young people due to their resilience and physical fitness. PopRep, (2022) estimates that currently, there are over 1.195 million active-duty military officers and over 778,000 reserve forces. Young adults comprise a considerable proportion of these forces.

Approximately 50% of the armed forces are between 17 and 25 years old. The age distribution is almost similar for both genders (Kelty et al., 2010). By 2020, the armed forces personnel below 25 years in the U.S were over 600,455 (Duffin, 2021). Data also shows that about 627,437 active-duty armed personnel are between 26 and 40 years (Duffin, 2021).

The law clarifies that all recruits into the armed forces must have attained 17 years and be below 35 years. However, any person below 17 years must present parental approval to enlist.

Over 184,000 high school graduates are recruited annually into the armed forces to replace those who have attained the retirement age and completed their commitment (PopRep, 2022).

Military personnel have better health-related behaviors than the general population. They also exceed the Healthy People 2020 goals due to regular physical exercise. Unfortunately, they suffer from various forms of psychological health disorders. However, Abu-Hayyeh and Singh (2019) highlighted that the risk of developing mental health disorders among younger military personnel is higher than their older counterparts.

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2 Specific Health Issues Physical health problems 

Chronic pain

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More likely to experience strains and sprains

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More likely to be exhausted

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Hearing problems from exposure to loud noise

Infectious diseases 

Higher risk of Influenza

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Vector-borne diseases

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Food-borne illnesses

Substance misuse/abuse 

High rates of alcohol consumption and tobacco use (5.4%) (NIDA, 2019).

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more likely to engage in binge drinking

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22.3% report illicit substances use (NIDA, 2019).

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They are more likely to misuse prescription medications,

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Illicit substance uses, and medication misuse leads to drug dependence (NIDA, 2019).

· Mental health and Suicide 

Twenty-five percent of military personnel have a higher risk of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and anxiety than the general population (Kentucky Counseling Center, 2021)

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a higher possibility of experiencing suicidal ideation

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members of the armed forces are 1.5 times more likely to commit suicide than the public

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Over 40% of suicide attempts are attributable to excessive alcohol and drug use (Kentucky Counseling Center, 2021).

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Sleep disorders

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Irritability

Sexual health problems 

Higher rates of sexual harassment

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Erectile dysfunction is higher than average in the general population (1 in every three troops) (NBC News, 2014).

4 References Abu-Hayyeh, R., & Singh, G. (2019). Adverse health effects of recruiting child soldiers. BMJ Pediatrics Open, 3(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmjpo-2018-000325 Kelty, R., Kleykamp, M., & Segal, D. R. (2010). The military and the transition to adulthood.

The Future of Children, 181-207. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ883085.pdf Kentucky Counseling Center (2021). Mental health issues in the military. https://kentuckycounselingcenter.com/mental-health-issues-in-the-military/ NBC News (2014). Erectile dysfunction rate in young troops is way above average: Study. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/sexual-health/erectile-dysfunction-rate-young-troopsway-above-average-study-n159711 NIDA (2019). Substance use and military life drug facts. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/substance-use-military-life PopRep (2022). Characteristics of active component accessions age. https://prhome.defense.gov/portals/52/Documents/POPREP/poprep99/html/chapter2/ c2_age.htm Duffin, E. (2021). The number of active-duty U.S. Armed Forces personnel in 2020, by age group. https://www.statista.com/statistics/232711/number-of-active-duty-us-defenseforce-personnel-by-age/