Youth risk behavior survey: the Alaskan perspective.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national school-based survey used to monitor health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of mortality, morbidity, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. Both high school and middle school surveys were administered to a representative group of Alaska high school and middle school students for the first time in 1995. Surveys were administered in a confidential and anonymous manner, taking care to assure student privacy. A total of 1,634 high school students and 1,265 middle school students completed surveys. The survey revealed that, for the most part, Alaska students are similar to U.S. students. Among high school students, 23.2% of boys and 15.4% of girls seldom or never used seat belts; 36.4% of boys and 36.5% of girls had smoked cigarettes in the previous 30 days; 23.5% of boys and 6.7% of girls had used smokeless tobacco in the previous 30 days; 48.7% of boys and 48.0% of girls reported having had sexual intercourse at least once; 23.7% of boys and 59.5% of girls were trying to lose weight; and 77.9% of boys and 65.6% of girls had exercised vigorously on three of the previous seven days. The middle school survey was somewhat different than the high school survey, so that results are not directly comparable. Nonetheless, the data indicate that high-risk behaviors, such as tobacco use, drug use, and early sexual intercourse, do occur at the middle school level. The survey also showed that Alaska teens have desirable health behaviors as well, such as frequent exercise and eating fruits and vegetables. The 1995 Alaska YRBS was the first time that representative data on Alaska students were collected on a statewide basis. The YRBS provides Alaska with baseline data that can be compared to national data.

Developing and conducting a health risk behavior survey among school-aged students.

PURPOSE: To conduct a survey in the school setting which inquires about health risk behaviors among students in grades 7-12. METHOD: The survey was designed by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in conjunction with many federal and state agencies, to monitor behaviors in the following six areas: unintentional and intentional injuries, tobacco use, alcohol and drug use, sexual behaviors, dietary behaviors, and physical activity. Surveys are administered at the national and state levels and can be optionally administered by local school districts. The standard survey instrument allows for comparisons of national, state, and, where appropriate, local data. Computer software allows for the selection of a random sample and when a sufficient response rate is achieved, survey results can be generalized to the entire sampling frame. Standard software packages can be used for analysis of the data. RESULTS: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey developed by the CDC provides a useful and practical tool to monitor health risk behaviors in adolescent populations. This type of instrument may prove useful to public health professionals in other countries.

A comparison of demographic characteristics of selected year 2000 health objectives for the United States, using behavioral risk factor surveillance system data for Alaska.

PURPOSE: The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a nationally developed and state-administered telephone survey which monitors the health behaviors and practices of adults aged 18 and older. One use of the survey is to monitor progress towards some of the Year 2000 Health Objectives for the United States. METHOD: Alaska has been conducting BRFSS monthly since January 1991, collecting approximately 128 interviews each month, for a yearly yield of approximately 1,530. Survey design allows for the aggregation of data over several years to accumulate sufficient sample size to look at health behaviors in subgroups of interest. We look at progress towards Year 2000 objectives for Alaska by various demographic characteristics: age, gender, education, employment, and geographic region. RESULTS: Survey data such as BRFSS can be used to monitor health behaviors and practices in a population in a cost-efficient and systematic manner.

The prevalence of tobacco use among Alaska adults.

The Alaska Division of Public Health monitors the prevalence of smoking and other tobacco use among Alaska adults through the Alaska Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone survey performed in cooperation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A total of approximately 1530 interviews are completed each year in Alaska by specially trained interviewers. The prevalence of smoking among Alaska adults in 1994 (28.9%) was second highest in the U.S. Alaska Natives have higher smoking rates (42.9%). Overall, smoking rates have declined in the last three decades nationally. However, in recent years, little change has been found in the prevalence of smoking among adults. Alaska's rate of smokeless tobacco use has also been higher than the national rate of use. The majority of Alaska smokers (83.7%) began smoking between 10 and 20 years of age. In 1994, an estimated 121,000 Alaska adults aged 18 and older were current smokers.

Tobacco use among Alaska youth.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national school-based survey used to monitor health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of mortality, morbidity and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. Tobacco use is one of the behaviors monitored. Both high school and middle school surveys were administered to a representative group of Alaska high school and middle school students for the first time in 1995. Surveys were administered in a confidential and anonymous manner, taking care to assure student privacy. A total of 1,634 high school students and 1,265 middle school students completed surveys. The survey found that Alaska high school students have smoking rates higher than the national rate and that Alaska Native youth have even higher smoking rates. Furthermore, smoking is not uncommon among Alaska middle school students. Among high school students, 36.5% were current smokers (had smoked in the past 30 days) and 21.1% had smoked on 20 or more of the previous 30 days. Boys were more likely than girls to report having used chewing tobacco or snuff in the 30 days prior to the survey (23.5% of boys and 6.7% of girls). Smokeless tobacco use increased with grade level so that 29.1% of high school senior boys had used smokeless tobacco products within the previous 30 days. Over 60% of Alaska Native students reported smoking in the previous 30 days, 43.7% reported smoking 20 or more of the previous 30 days and 22.5% reported using chewing tobacco or snuff in the previous 30 days. Over half of middle school students reported having tried smoking at least once; about one-fourth smoked at least one day in the past 30 days and 5.6% smoked on 20 or more of the past 30 days.

Sensory factors which affect the acceptance of raw and heated defatted soybeans by rats.

The acceptability of heated soybean meal (HS) compared to raw soybean flakes (RS) was studied by means of diet selection in free choice situations. The selection by rats of diets containing HS over those containing RS was shown in short- and long-term preference tests. Texture did not seem to be an important factor in the acceptability difference between HS and RS. Rats selected a less nutritious diet containing RS + sodium saccharin (appealing taste) over a diet containing HS + sucrose octaacetate (aversive taste) for an initial 6 to 7 days, suggesting that post-ingestional factors did not markedly affect the acceptability during that period. However, after this initial period, the rats selected the diet of higher nutritive value, even though it had added sucrose octaacetate. Preference tests before and after producing anosmia indicated that RS contains an aversive odor(s) which could be removed by vacuum treatment. Heated soybean meal was found to contain an appealing taste stimulus (i) which could also be removed by vacuum treatment.