Grampian Youth Lifestyle Survey 2001

1. Introduction

2. The Aim of This Report

3. What Do We Mean by Lifestyle?

4. About the Survey

5. Results of the Survey

5.1 General Health

(a) Perceptions of Health

(b) Lifestyle

(d) Feelings

(e) Dealing with Problems

5.2. Dental Health

5.3. Sunscreen

5.4. Food

(a) Attitudes Towards Health and Diet

(b) Breakfast

(d) Changes to Diet

(e) Supporting Change

5.5 Physical Activity

(a) How Physically Active are Young People?

(b) Reasons Given for Taking More Exercise

5.6. Leisure

(a) Television

(b) Computer Games

5.7. Smoking

(a) Smoking Status

(b) Percentage of Respondents Smoking Regularly or Occasionally

(d) Reasons Why Young People Smoke

(e) Where do Young People Smoke?

(f) Stopping Smoking

(g) Exposure to Smoke

5.8. Alcohol

(a) Attitudes to Drinking Alcohol

(b) Alcohol Consumption

(d) Reasons for Drinking

5.9. Accidents and Safety

(a) Number of Accidents

(b) Road Safety

5.10. Sexual Health

(a) HIV

(b) Sexually Transmitted Disease

(d) Use of Contraception

5.11. Drugs

(a) Drug Use

(b) Reasons For Taking Drugs

(d) Where are Drugs Taken?

(e) Knowledge of and Attitudes to Drugs

6. Summary and Conclusions

1. Introduction

This is the fourth Youth Lifestyle Survey carried out in Grampian, earlier surveys taking place in 1992, 1995 and 1998. Repeating the survey every 3 to 4 years allows comparison with previous surveys so that changes in lifestyles and progress towards national and local targets can be monitored. From this we can inform local planning in NHS Grampian and its Local Authority Partners, thereby influencing the development of strategies and services that promote health and tackle inequalities.

2. The Aim of This Report

This report aims to provide information about the survey and gives a summary of the key results for Grampian.

3. What Do We Mean by Lifestyle?

Lifestyles include our attitudes, knowledge and behaviours that together make up our way of living. Our lifestyles have an influence on our health and wellbeing, and the lifestyles of young people today will affect their health in years to come.

Many illnesses and premature deaths are avoidable and encouraging people to make positive changes can help them add years to their lives, and life to their years.

4. About the Survey

As in previous years, the survey covered all secondary schools in Grampian including the independent schools.

The self-completion questionnaire included questions on general health, food, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, drugs, stress, oral and dental health, accidents and relationships.

The questionnaire closely mirrored that of the previous surveys in order to measure changes in lifestyle and behaviour over time. Some questions have been added or changed to improve the quality of information obtained and to address new health issues.

Due to these changes it was necessary to undertake a pilot study prior to the main survey in order to validate the new questions. This involved asking youngsters to complete the questionnaire and to participate in a follow-up group discussion which gave them the opportunity to comment on all aspects of the study. This allowed any problems with the questionnaire to be rectified.

The survey was carried out between 2 November and 22 November 2001 and involved a 10% sample of pupils from years 1 to 6. NHS Grampian staff supervised the completion and collection of the questionnaires. This reduced the demand on school staff time and ensured that pupils were not influenced in their responses by the presence of teachers.

In total, 2515 questionnaires were completed – a response rate of 76%. In order to address any bias from non-responders the data was weighted by year group and sex prior to analysis. Given the size of the sample achieved and the fact that any bias was reduced by weighting data, the survey provides a powerful and accurate measure of young people’s attitudes, knowledge and behaviour.

All analyses contained in this report are based on weighted data. All figures have been rounded up to the nearest whole number where possible. As a result percentages quoted may not always add up to 100.

NHS Grampian wishes to thank the young people who took part and the schools for all their help and co-operation in carrying out the survey, as well as all those who contributed to the running of the survey.

5. Results of the Survey

5.1 General Health

(a) Perceptions of Health

72% of young people felt that their health was ‘good’ or ‘very good’. There is no significant change from the last survey. However, the percentage reporting their health as above average has increased by 10% since 1992 survey. Perceptions varied among male and female respondents as follows:

Males
% / Females
% / Total
%
Very Good / 23 / 17 / 20
Good / 51 / 53 / 52
Average / 23 / 28 / 25
Poor / 3 / 3 / 3
Very Poor / 0.4 / 0.1 / 0.2

There is a small difference between responses given by males and females with 4% more males than females perceiving their health as above average.

14% of young people reported a long term illness or disability. Of these, 54% named this illness/disability as asthma. This represents 7% of all young people surveyed and reflects the Scottish trend and trends elsewhere.

In order to assess young people's attitudes to a range of issues, they were asked if they perceived themselves to be:

Males
% / Females
% / Total
%
Fit and healthy / 80 / 60 / 70
Happy with their body / 80 / 56 / 68
They have a well balanced diet / 63 / 56 / 59
Worried about gaining weight / 22 / 64 / 43
Unhappy if they eat too much / 18 / 47 / 33
Overweight / 18 / 36 / 27
Underweight / 10 / 6 / 8

Results suggest that young males have a more positive view of themselves when compared with young women. The young females surveyed are more inclined to feel overweight, worry about gaining weight and unhappy if they eat too much. In addition, they are less likely than young males to feel fit and healthy and to be happy with their bodies or to feel that they have a well-balanced diet.

Overall, only 8% of young people perceive themselves as underweight and there has been a steady decline from 15% in 1992. Conversely, those who think they are overweight has increased from 12% in 1992 to 27% in 2001. Similarly, average body mass index (weight in kilograms/height in metres squared) has increased steadily from 1995 to 2001 in both young males and young females, in line with national trends.

Average BMI

Males / Females / Total
1995 / 18.1 / 18.2 / 18.2
1998 / 19.9 / 19.9 / 19.9
2001 / 20.4 / 19.9 / 20.1

(b) Lifestyle

During the year prior to the survey many of those surveyed had made changes to their lifestyle.

· 79% had tried to take more exercise

· 45% had changed their diet

· 51% relaxed more often

· 74% had tried to get a good night’s sleep

5% of young people reported that they feel ‘continually’ under stress and a further 19% said that there were ‘frequently’ under stress. These figures were slightly higher than the 1998 survey.

The results show that figures varied by year group. For example 10% of pupils in years 5&6 felt continually under stress and 31% frequently felt under stress. This is an increase of 3% in both these figures since 1998. The figures for younger pupils were generally lower.

Questions were asked covering a range of issues which we thought might be of concern to young people. These included environmental or structural factors such as pollution & crime, and individual factors such as stress and physical appearance.

Males
% / Females
% / Total
%
School work / exams / 72 / 81 / 76
My appearance / 48 / 77 / 63
The future / 44 / 47 / 45
Being under too much pressure / 35 / 44 / 40
Lacking confidence / 32 / 43 / 38
Family issues / 28 / 41 / 34
Not having any money / 31 / 34 / 33
Not being able to get a job / 32 / 28 / 30
Having nothing to do / 32 / 25 / 28
Feeling lonely / 21 / 32 / 27
Not getting on with my friends / 18 / 36 / 27
Not getting on with my brothers / sisters / 23 / 28 / 26
Being shy / 23 / 25 / 24
Being bullied / 17 / 21 / 19
Not being able to take to parents / 14 / 24 / 19
Not getting on with boyfriend / girlfriend / 15 / 23 / 19
Having no one to talk to / 13 / 22 / 18
Having nothing to look forward to / 18 / 18 / 18
Crime / 15 / 16 / 15
The environment / 9 / 9 / 9

Respondents appear to worry much more about individual concerns such as their future, physical appearance, performance at school and relationships than about environmental or structural issue. Male responses differed slightly from female responses. The biggest difference was for physical appearance which caused much more concern to girls than boys.

(d) Feelings

Some new questions about feelings were asked in the 2001 survey. Young people were asked to

pick five words from a graffiti board as to how they felt that day. They then had to give three things that made them feel happy, sad, good about themselves and bad about themselves. They were also asked who they could talk to about feelings and what they would do if they felt bad.

i) How you are feeling today?

The most frequently chosen word was happy (35%) and the majority of feelings picked were positive e.g. fine, cheerful, rather than negative.

ii) Things that make me happy.

70% of respondents said that being with friends/talking to friends made them happy. The next most frequent responses were playing/listening to music (27%) and playing sport/being active (26.7%).

iii) Things that make me sad.

Arguing/falling out with friends was chosen most often, by 44% of respondents.

iv) Things that make me feel good about myself.

The top three choices were having friends/being with friends (33%), doing well at school/in exams (31%) and my appearance/looking good (27%).

v) Things that make me feel bad about myself.

The top two choices were my physical appearance (29%) and not doing well at school (26%).

vi) Who could you talk to and what would you do?

When asked whom they could talk to about their feelings, 60% said friends and 29% said their mother. When asked what they would do if they felt bad, most respondents said they would talk, and talking to friends (25%) was the most frequently mentioned.

A common theme throughout this whole section on feelings was the importance of friends.

(e) Dealing with problems

As an indication of how best to promote mental health in young people, a range of possible activities which they might undertake when they have problems or feel under pressure or stress, was included. They were asked what they do when they have a problem and if this helped.

% / % who felt it helped deal with problem
Listen to music / 85 / 85
Think about something else, try to forget it and go do something like watch TV etc / 84 / 78
Spend more time being sociable, going out with friends / family / 78 / 95
Try to see the good side of things and / or concentrate on something good that could come out of it / 63 / 81
Try to do some exercise / physical activity like going for a walk / play sport / 62 / 87
Write about things / paint / draw / play music / 53 / 87
Go shopping / 47 / 88
Talk to no-one / try to sort myself out / 35 / 52
Get more information / discuss the problem further / 28 / 87
Eat more / 26 / 35
Drink more / 26 / 57
Smoke more / 12 / 60
Use drugs / 6 / 73

Results suggest that when under stress young people are inclined to ‘listen to music’ and 85% felt that this was an effective way for them to deal with their problems. Spending more time being sociable was used by 78% of young people and 95% said that this helped them to deal with the problem. Only 26% chose to eat more, compared with 81% in the 1998 survey.

Where young people were inclined to discuss problems further, they were more likely to do so with a friend (87%) or with a parent (51%). Least popular option was youth workers (8%). This kind of information has implications for issues such as drugs education and sexual health.

5.2 Dental Health

92% of those surveyed were registered with a dentist and 82% had attended a dentist in the last six months. A further 13% had attended in the last year.

The following preventative measures were taken daily to improve dental health:

1998 / 2001
Brush teeth / 96 / 99
Use a fluoride toothpaste / 85 / 81
Chew sugar free gum after meals / - / 48
Use a mouthwash / 48 / 47
Avoid sugary foods / 32 / 20
Use dental floss / 17 / 13
Take a fluoride supplement / 6 / 2

There is a slight increase in the number of respondents who brush their teeth daily. However the number of young people who avoid sugary foods has dropped by 12% since 1998. Chewing sugar free gum, an addition to the question since 1998, was a choice for 48% of young people.

Grampian Youth Lifestyle Survey 2001

Grampian Youth Lifestyle Survey 2001

Contents

5.2 Dental Health