Regional Vice President Highlights

The Japan Society of Adolescentology was established in 1982, emerging from the annual ‘Adolescent Medicine Symposium’ in the country which was launched in 1963. The Society aims to promote research, knowledge dissemination, and projects about adolescents, and to contribute to the well-being of humans. The total number of members exceeds 1,800; teachers, obstetricians and midwives are the top three membership specialty groups. The academic meetings of the Society are held annually, and the academic journal is issued quarterly.

IAAH Regional Vice-President for East Asia, Shuntaro Ando, is an active member of the Japan Society for Adolescentology and is also involved in the Tokyo Teen Cohort study as a researcher. This large-scale, prospective, community-based study recruited an original cohort of 3,171 youths aged 10 years – and their parents – to provide information on the physical and psychological development of adolescents. Collecting data every two years, and having achieved a 95% follow up rate in the second wave, the third wave of data collection among the now 14 year-old cohort is underway. Ando notes that this multidisciplinary, longitudinal study will help researchers better serve the health needs of adolescents in Japan in the coming years.

For more information on the Japan Society for Adolescentology, please visit: http://adolescent.gr.jp/outline/index_en.html

For more information on the Tokyo Teen Cohort Study, please visit: http://ttcp.umin.jp/