Infant Mortality among the Adolescent Married Tribal Girls in AP

Adolescents are the young people aged between 13and 19 years. It is a transitional age and stage of physical, physiological and psychological development from puberty to legal adulthood. More than 1.2 billion adolescents are worldwide and this indicates that roughly one in every six persons is an adolescent1. About 21 per cent of Indian population is adolescents (about 243 million). They are the future of the nation, forming a major demographic and economic force. They have specific needs which vary with gender, life circumstances and socio economic conditions. They face challenges like poverty, lack of access to health care services, unsafe environments etc. It is a period of preparation for undertaking greater responsibilities like familial, social, cultural and economic issues in the adulthood. Adolescents are a group of apparently healthy individuals. The health status of an adolescent determines the health status in his/ her adulthood. Many serious diseases in adulthood have their roots in adolescence. Also, many adolescents do die prematurely due to various reasons which are either preventable or treatable and many more suffer from chronic ill-health and disability.