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Volume 27, Issue 470	June 26, 2006

TEENS GETTING HEALTHIER, BUT STILL EATING TOO MUCH, EXERCISING TOO LITTLE

Christina Kent

There’s good news and bad news in the latest major survey of the health risk behaviors of high school students. Conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the survey queried 14,000 9^th through 12^th grade students, comparing health risk behaviors from 2001 to 2005. It found that more teens are wearing seatbelts, and fewer teens are drinking alcohol.

However, the percentage of students who were at risk of becoming overweight or were already overweight burgeoned from 2001 to 2005. And while the percentage of students who were in a physical fight dropped from 1991-2003, that number grew from 2003-2005.

“The overall survey results are encouraging because they show us that persistent efforts to get young people to adopt healthier behaviors can achieve positive results,” said Howell Wechsler, director of adolescent and school health for the CDC, which released the survey June 8^th. “However, the results also illustrate some of the challenges. One, it does take persistence to achieve results. And two, despite the overall improvements in health behaviors of teens, racial and ethnic differences continue to exist.”

For example, African American students are less likely to use tobacco, alcohol, cocaine and other drugs, than are white and Hispanic high school students. But black teens also are more likely to report risky sexual behaviors and sedentary ones such as watching television for three or more hours a day.

White students are most likely to engage in frequent cigarette smoking and episodic heavy drinking. And Hispanic students are most likely to report attempted suicide and the use of drugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

The CDC’s 2005 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey is conducted every two years. For the complete report, go to this CDC Web site. To view state-by-state and territory-by-territory results, click here.

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© Copyright 2006, State Health Notes