Contraceptive use by 15-year-old students at their last sexual intercourse: results from 24 countries.

OBJECTIVES: To identify and report cross-national patterns in contraceptive use among sexually active adolescents. DESIGN: A cross-national cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Data were collected in 2002 by self-report questionnaire from students in school classrooms. PARTICIPANTS: A cluster sample of 33,943 students aged 15 years from 24 countries. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: International standardized questions on ever having had sexual intercourse and contraceptive use at last sexual intercourse. RESULTS: The percentages of students reporting having had sexual intercourse ranged from 14.1% in Croatia to 37.6% in England; 82.3% of those who were sexually active reported that they used condoms and/or birth control pills at last intercourse. Condom use only was most frequent and ranged from 52.7% in Sweden to 89.2% in Greece. Dual use of condoms and contraceptive pills was also relatively frequent, ranging from 2.6% in Croatia to 28.8% in Canada. The use of contraceptive pills was most frequent in northern and western Europe. No contraceptive use at last intercourse was reported by 13.2% of students. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial minority of 15-year-olds have engaged in sexual intercourse. Condom use is the most frequent method of contraception reported by the sexually active respondents, followed by the dual use of condoms and contraceptive pills and contraceptive pills only. The proportions of poorly protected and unprotected youth remain high, and attention to international policy and practice determinants of young sexual behavior and contraceptive use is required.

Television viewing behaviour and associations with food habits in different countries.

OBJECTIVE: Several environmental factors influence adolescents' food habits and television (TV) viewing is thought to be one of these factors. The purpose of the present study was to describe sociodemographic differences in TV viewing and to examine associations of TV viewing with the consumption of sweets, soft drinks, fruit and vegetables in different countries. METHODS: Data were collected from 162,305 young people completing the 2001/02 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey, a World Health Organization cross-national study on health and health behaviours among 11-, 13- and 15-year-old school pupils. Analyses of variance were used to examine sociodemographic differences in TV viewing and logistic regression analyses to examine associations between TV viewing and food habits. RESULTS: Large differences were found between countries in reported daily TV viewing time, from an average of 2.0 h in Switzerland to 3.7 h in Ukraine. The results indicate that those most likely to watch TV are boys, 13-year-olds and pupils of lower socio-economic status. Those who watched more TV were more likely to consume sweets and soft drinks on a daily basis and less likely to consume fruit and vegetables daily, although the latter associations were not so apparent among Central and Eastern European countries. CONCLUSIONS: Given the high TV viewing rates among adolescents and the association with less healthy food options, many young people are at increased risk of overweight or obesity. Interventions to modify TV viewing behaviour are needed. The findings underscore the importance of tackling socio-economic differences.

Persistent socio-demographic differences in physical activity among Scottish schoolchildren 1990-2002.

BACKGROUND: Regular participation in physical activity can have significant health gains in terms of physical and psychological wellbeing but there is evidence to suggest that many young people are not sufficiently active to benefit their health. This paper examines the socio-demographic patterning of leisure-time vigorous physical activity among Scottish schoolchildren between 1990 and 2002. METHODS: The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey of 11-, 13- and 15-year-old schoolchildren has been carried out in Scotland since 1990 at four-yearly intervals. Levels of vigorous physical activity were measured in relation to gender, age and socio-economic status (SES). RESULTS: Girls reported lower levels of vigorous physical activity than boys and this gender difference persisted throughout the four survey years, irrespective of changes in overall levels of physical activity. Vigorous physical activity was also consistently lower among lower SES groups and older adolescents. The effect of gender was greatest, with high-SES girls reporting lower levels of vigorous activity than low-SES boys, and low-SES girls being the least active overall. CONCLUSION: Scottish adolescent females, especially those from low SES groups, may be at particular risk of the adverse health effects associated with low levels of physical activity. Health promotion programmes to promote physical activity need to address these persistent gender and socio-economic inequalities.

Health and health behaviour among young people : international report / by C. Currie ... [et al.]

The series Health Policy for Children and Adolescents (HEPCA)is a WHO document series mainly based on results of the international survey "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children" (HBSC) and on other relevant international studies. It focuses on the implications of scientific results for health policy in developed countries. The target groups are politicians and experts, especially those concerned with the health of young people. The HEPCA series consists of reports on particular topics of high political relevance, including survey data on child and adolescent health, reports on specific health situations and suggestions for future investment in health policies for the young generation