A Health and Lifestyle Survey of Young People in East Riding of
Yorkshire 2002
Synopsis:
In order to obtain up to date information about the health and
lifestyles of young people living in the area, the four Primary Care
Trusts commissioned the Public Health Development Team to undertake a
survey based upon the 19961 survey. A self-completion questionnaire was
administered to 11-15 year olds in 21 volunteer secondary schools in
Kingston upon Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. 4,246 completed
questionnaires were obtained (approximately 10% of the resident 11-15
year olds) during the first half of 2002.
Although the results varied across the four PCTs for many of the
topics studied, this summary gives only overall figures; details of the
PCTs are to be found in the full report. There have been some changes
since 1996, for instance the young people still worry about their
appearance and relationships with family and friends but there was an
increase in the amount of worry reported by the year 9 pupils about
school examinations and testing.
Approximately 20% of the year 7 pupils reported worries about
bullying, this dropped to less than 10% by year 10, findings very
similar to the 19961 survey. Listening to music was very important in
making both males and females feel better but the females relied upon
talking to their friends more than the males who preferred spending time
on hobbies or taking exercise. The use of the internet was a new topic
for this year and showed that for many it had become a source of
information about many topics including sexual health. However,
computers were more likely to be used for playing games than researching
information, in males especially, with more than a quarter reporting
that they played computer games for at least 10 hours each week. The
sedentary activity of computer games and watching television did not
mean that the young people totally ignored physical activity. It was
important in stress relief for males and nearly 80% of males and females
said they took part in physical activities each week. Less than 10% took
less exercise than that with only 1% saying they never took any
exercise. There was a feeling that walking to school gave them enough
exercise to keep fit but over 50% reported playing in parks and the
street every week. Football was the most popular sport/activity for the
males and swimming for females.
Many respondents thought that eating “junk” food was an unhealthy
activity but they did it because they “liked the taste”, “there was
nothing else” or it was “quick”. Two thirds of females and just under
half of males wanted to eat a healthier diet, it was not ascertained
whether this was to lose weight or not but similar numbers also reported
wanting to lose weight. There has been much publicity about the benefits
of the consumption of five portions of fruit or vegetables a day, and
although approximately 90% did eat some fruit and vegetables a day, less
than 40% ate the 5 portions recommended.
By year 10 a third of the young people reported drinking alcohol
every week, and over half reported alcohol consumption in the week prior
to the administration of the survey. Around a fifth of those who drank
alcohol in year 10 admitted levels of consumption over the level deemed
“safe” for adults, this was a doubling of the proportions in females
since 1996 but a slight reduction in the males. Tobacco consumption has
also increased in the females with 22% of year 10s reporting themselves
as regular smokers, the proportion was 9% in males, 35% of year 10
females and 16% of year 10 males reported that they had smoked tobacco
in the week prior to the survey. The use of drugs other than tobacco or
alcohol was largely confined to cannabis, with 7% having tried the drug
in the previous year and 6% in the previous four weeks. By year 10, 28%
of males and 32% of females had tried or used cannabis in the previous
year, this was about half of the number reporting that they had been
offered cannabis during that year. Over half of the tobacco smokers said
that they had also used cannabis but less than 10% of the non-smokers
admitted using the drug.
To download the full report please
click here
For further information please see: www.heros.org.uk. |
