A Gender Equity and Empowerment Lens to Understand the Health & Well Being of Adolescents in India (UDAYA)

Situation or Background
Adolescents aged 10 to 19 years represent 20% of the total population of India, amounting to 250 million. To address the health and wellbeing of this population, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) in 2014, with the following key priority areas, including sexual and reproductive health, mental health, nutrition, substance abuse, and violence/injury.

Our Goal or What We’re Doing
This project assessed whether, how and for whom do government schemes, systems, and initiatives for adolescent development improve health and productivity using the UDAYA dataset from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India.

Approach or Methodology
Secondary data analysis was conducted using the cross-sectional data from the “Understanding the Lives of Adolescents and Young Adults (UDAYA)” survey conducted by the Population Council-India.

Impact and What We’re Learning
The study explored a range of interpersonal, social and mental health dimensions of the adolescent experience in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India. This evidence provided recommendations to RKSK programming.

Relevant Publications:

Bhan, N., Bhadra, K., Rao, N., Yore, J., & Raj, A. (2020). Sport as a vehicle of change for livelihoods, social participation and marital health for the youth: findings from a
prospective cohort in Bihar, India. EClinicalMedicine, 20.

Bhan, N., Jose, R., Silverman, J. G., & Raj, A. (2019). Family violence as a determinant of suicidality and depression among adolescents in India. Journal of Global Health Reports, 3, e2019072.