News Item:
New report on the health and well-being of French speaking Belgian youth

In 2014, more than 14,000 students took part in the 10th HBSC survey carried out in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (French speaking Belgium). The results of this survey have been published in a new report which provides a in-depth look at the state of adolescents' health and well-being from across the region.

This report, 'Comportements, bien-être et santé des élèves', reviews trends over time and identifies disparities and inequalities in relation to adolescent health and wellbeing across across a range of characteristics such as gender, age, family structure, academic setting and socio-economic status

Positive findings include:

• The vast majority of secondary school students are highly satisfied with their life (85%) and report having visited a dentist in the past year (82%)

• School children in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles have among the highest rates for daily fruit and vegetable consumption when compared with other countries and regions in the HSBC study.

• Only 8% of students in secondary schools smoke on a daily basis. This finding is in line with other countries and regions in the HBSC study.

However, the findings also reveal many areas for improvement: 

• More than one third of adolescents consume sugary drinks daily

• Only 16% of young people spend at least one hour a day being physically active

• 57% of school children in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles watch television for two or more hours a day

• 42% of adolescents reported having multiple psychosomatic symptoms (headache, stomach ache, backache and feeling nervousness) and 17% report being bullied at school. 

• Large health inequalities were observed, especially among adolescents from low socio-economic status, those who don't live with their both parents and those enrolled in vocational education. 

Changes over time

In comparison with previous surveys, a variety of improvements were noticed, including an increase in the daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, and a decrease in the prevalence of daily smoking, weekly cannabis use, physical fighting and bullying at school. However, some indicators revealed a worsening trend, such as an increase in daily soft drink consumption, increasing frequency of sleep problems, rising levels of school-related stress and a decrease in daily breakfast consumption. 

see here for further details

item 4324
[23-05-2017 to 31-01-2018]

 

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