Approaches to Understanding Youth Well-Being

Abstract

Despite that young peopleYoung people are the population group least likely to experience the burden of disease, significant attention is paid to the “problem” of youth healthHealth. Young people and children are often discussed in terms of their risk status, whether “at risk” and in need of protection or engaged in risk-taking and in need of control or education. Traditionally healthHealth has been understood as the absence of disease. However, the term “well-being”WellbeingYouth wellbeing is increasingly used to conjure a broader notion of physical, mental, social, material, and civic healthHealth. The attainment of “well-being” has gathered an increasingly idealized and individualized foc..