MAHA – City Chapter of Adolescent Health Academy launched

Mysuru:  “For today’s younger generation, gadgets have assumed a substantial stake in their daily life which is negatively impacting their health,” opined Chairperson of Adolescent Health Academy (AHA), India, Dr. Preeti Galgali.

She was speaking after launching Mysore Adolescent Health Academy (MAHA), a city chapter of AHA, at Hotel Southern Star in city this morning.

Delivering her lecture on ‘Impact of electronic gadgets on adolescent health’ and ‘Poor school performance in adolescent; Role of paedestrians,’ she said: “our country has 243 million adolescents, which is highest in the world. We, paediatricians have responsibility of addressing adolescent issues such as stress, peer pressure, behaviour problems and assist parents in this regard. AHA needs to reach more and more youth and address their issues. By 2020, we are planning to launch a Youth Club.”

On the occasion, Dr. Preeti Galgali installed Dr. S.N. Mothi as Chairman and Dr. M.R. Prashanth as Secretary of MAHA.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. S.N. Mothi said, “We are now witnessing increasing gap between adolescents and parents. Nutritional deficiency is also a major concern among adolescents. We need to intervene, guide and motivate our youngsters.”

Dr. Nataraj Ballal, Professor in Paediatrics, University of Southern Florida, USA, gave talk on the topic ‘Syncope in adolescents and hypermobility spectrum disorder.’ Dr. Rajendra, Professor in Paediatrics and Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS spoke about ‘Adolescent sexuality.’ 

Dr. D. Narayanappa, Professor in Paediatrics, JSS Hospital and Dr. M. Govinda Raju, Professor and Head, Department of Paediatrics, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Medical College, Bengaluru, were the guests of honour.

Dr. Krishnakumar, Secretary, Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Dr. S.R. Prasad, Dr. Srinivas, about 80 paediatricians and mental health professionals  were present.