ABSTRACT
This part of the life course, as young people develop into adults, is a critical one. It is a time when the potential for positive possibilities regarding health, self-esteem and skills and competencies to protect health can be supported, practised and consolidated. However, it is also the time when harmful behaviours might become established which affect life chances. Many, across the social gradient and due to a plethora of reasons, become involved in practices that can jeopardize their current and future health. Nearly two-thirds of premature deaths and one-third of the total disease burden in adults are associated with conditions or behaviours that began in younger life (WHO 2013). Such behaviours include addiction (e.g. tobacco, alcohol and drugs, lack of physical activity and unprotected sex) and related hazards and health conditions, such as HIV and bloodborne viruses, violence, accident and injury.
