Nov. 2007 - New countries joining the HBSC Network

We are pleased to announce that Albania and Armenia were welcomed as new member countries at the last HBSC international meeting in Oeiras, Portugal, at the end of October 2007. There are now 43 countries in the HBSC Network.

October 2007 - WHO/HBSC Forum Update

The Forum series are a partnership initiative between HBSC and WHO. They are hosted by the Tuscany Region and the A. Meyer University Children's Hospital of Florence (Italy). The goal of the WHO/HBSC Forum series is to bring policy-makers, practitioners and researchers together to compare and learn from experiences in addressing the socioeconomic determinants of adolescent health.

On 5-6 October 2007, representatives from 18 Member States and international experts convened in Viareggio, Italy, for the WHO/Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Forum 2007, which is dedicated to “social cohesion for mental wellbeing among adolescents”. The Forum is the second in a series to distil lessons learnt and policy implications for promoting adolescent health through action on the socioeconomic determinants of health. The series specifically aims to gather know-how for:

• Reducing health inequities among young people;

• Scaling up intersectoral policies and interventions to promote adolescent health;

• Translating research on young people’s health into policies and action within and beyond the health sector;

• Involving young people in the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies and interventions to promote their health.

In Viareggio, participants reviewed emerging evidence on adolescent mental health status and the latest know-how for the promotion of mental wellbeing and the prevention of mental disorders among adolescents. Interview rounds with Member State representatives allowed for exchange on policies and interventions. Panel discussions and break-out groups synthesized lessons learnt and policy implications. Links were drawn to the WHO Ministerial Conference for Mental Health (Helsinki, 2005), the WHO European Strategy for Child and Adolescent Health and Development, and the work of partnering agencies and intergovernmental bodies.

2006 Forum:

The first WHO/HBSC Forum was held 10-11 March 2006 in Florence and focused on eating habits and physical activity. Through the Forum 2006 process, case studies from ten countries and an HBSC background paper were produced. This case study report (PDF) fed into the evidence being gathered in conjunction with the WHO European Ministerial Conference for Counteracting Obesity (held 15-17 November in Istanbul), where Ministers and experts considered a European charter on counteracting obesity that will provide a strategic framework for strengthening action on obesity in the Region.
 
Related links:
WHO/HBSC Forum Web site
WHO Forum Press Note

April 2007 - ‘Debating childhood: understanding the evidence’

Candace Currie was invited to participate in the Economic and Social Research Council/ Department for Education and Skills joint seminar series entitled ‘Debating childhood: understanding the evidence’. She gave a presentation at one of two public policy seminars that took place in March 2007 in London.  The seminar was focussed on Risk Taking and her paper was on ‘Social pressure on children and risk taking behaviour: international perspective from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HSBC): WHO Collaborative Cross-National Study’. At the same event Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive, The Children's Society, discussed evidence and experience from The Children's Society practice and research, focusing on the issues of 'pressure' and 'risk' in young people's lives. From the seminar, ESRC published a Research Briefing ‘Social Pressures on Children and Risk Taking’ which can be downloaded from the ESRC website.

The other seminar in the same series focussed on child well-being and evidence presented there drew widely on data from the 2001/2 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey that was also reported in the recent UNICEF Report on the topic. The Research Briefing from that seminar ‘Well-being for children and young people’ can also be downloaded from the ESRC website.

2001/02 HBSC International Report: Young People's Health in Context
Currie C. et al (eds.) 2004. Young People's Health in Context: international report from the HBSC 2001/02 survey. WHO Policy Series: Health policy for children and adolescents Issue 4, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen.

Key Findings & Information on the study: Download [PDF - 174KB]

Chapter 1: Introduction Download [PDF - 1.19MB]	Chapters 4&5: Explaining health & health-related behaviour; Discussion and implications Download [PDF - 1.93MB]
Chapter 2: Life Circumstances of young people Download [PDF - 1.23MB]	Annex 1 & 2: Methods & summary tables Download [PDF - 315KB]
Chapter 3: Health and health-related behaviour Download [PDF - 1.59MB]	Full Report Download [PDF - 6.07MB]

A paper copy can be ordered on the World Health Organization website at:
http://www.euro.who.int/eprise/main/who/InformationSources/Publications/Catalogue/20040601_1 where information on the launch of the report in 2004 can also be found.

Spring 2007 - Latest Survey News

Work is currently underway to produce the results from the latest HBSC survey carried out last year. The latest survey was carried out last year with fieldwork completed in late spring in the majority of countries. This 7th HBSC survey included countries that recently joined the Network: Bulgaria, Iceland, Luxembourg, Romania and Turkey (for more information on countries please see HBSC countries). This brings the total number of participating countries in the study to 41.

March 2007 - UNICEF Innocenti Report Card No. 7

The UNICEF Innocenti Report Card No. 7, An Overview of child well-being in rich countries, was launched on 14th February 2007 using HBSC as one of its primary data sources.  This report is a pioneering attempt to give a multi-dimensional representation of child well-being in the world’s most advanced industrial economies. 

Together with data from the PISA study (OECD Programme for International Student Assessment), HBSC data is used to measure and compare child well-being under six dimensions: material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviours and risk, and young people’s own subjective sense of their well-being.

The aim of the report is to stimulate debate on these issues and to encourage governments and relevant international bodies to monitor child well-being more comprehensively and more regularly.

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