An official website of the United States government
This newsletter was published May 2025. Content and links in this web version may be out of date or no longer working.
May is National Adolescent Health Month™ (NAHM™)
Each May, the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) celebrates National Adolescent Health Month (NAHM). NAHM highlights the importance of supporting adolescents in leading healthy, fulfilling lives. NAHM is a time for adults across the country to come together and support adolescents in their communities.
This year, the NAHM theme is Taking Action to Advance Adolescent Health. In particular, we are focusing on engaging parents and caregivers to ensure that they have the information they need to support adolescents’ healthy development for lifelong wellness.
Celebrate NAHM and share OPA’s social media messages on your channels!
Parents and caregivers play a critical role in adolescent health and development.
Parents and caregivers can provide physical and mental health supports like housing, food, other material needs, warmth, and respect. As adolescents age and become more independent, parents and caregivers can equip young people with the life skills they will need to navigate life as adults. Parents and caregivers can collaborate with youth in making thoughtful decisions that promote adolescent well-being.
To provide support to adolescents, parents and caregivers must have access to the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources. Health and human services and youth-serving professionals are important partners in connecting families to information and support. When caring adults are well-informed and well-equipped, they are better prepared to understand the challenges young people face.
Access to information about adolescent health helps all caring adults effectively support young people.
OPA emphasizes the critical, ongoing role of research to advance adolescent health. Research helps us understand how changes in society affect and shape our health, like the mental health impacts of social media, substance use among youth, and other health concerns.
Prioritizing Research Approaches to Meaningfully Improve Adolescent Health is a toolkit to help researchers and others promote processes that are collaborative, comprehensive, and transparent, ensuring the findings are actionable and reflective of the wide-ranging experiences of adolescents. The toolkit is part of OPA’s call to action, Take Action for Adolescents™. |
Closing research gaps is essential to data-driven efforts to advance adolescent health and well-being. Parents, caregivers, other caring adults, and adolescents need research that answers their questions. Including young people, parents and caregivers, and their communities in the research process creates avenues to include their voices in decision-making and ensures studies are relevant and trustworthy.
National Adolescent Health Month™, NAHM™, and the NAHM logo are trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Use of these marks without prior approval by HHS is strictly prohibited.