A biennial survey released Thursday shows dramatic declines in risky behaviors, such as suicides and binge drinking, by Hawaii middle and high school students since 2009. However, there’s still much room for improvement, said officials with the state departments of Health and Education.
A biennial survey released Thursday shows dramatic declines in risky behaviors, such as suicides and binge drinking, by Hawaii middle and high school students since 2009. However, there’s still much room for improvement, said officials with the state departments of Health and Education.
The 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey is part of a national initiative conducted every two years, when it’s given to 1,644 public school students in sixth to 12th grade. The only survey monitoring youth risk behaviors on a broad scale, it is an important tool for identifying focus areas for prevention and treatment efforts. Only statewide and nationwide results were released Thursday. County-level data will be available later this summer.
The survey found the percentage of Hawaii high school students who reported attempting suicide in the past 12 months decreased significantly from 13 percent in 2009 to 9 percent last year.
Fewer high school students are drinking alcohol or binge drinking, but 29 percent still report drinking alcohol in the past 30 days. However marijuana use remains steady with 22 percent of high school students reporting use in the past 30 days, according to the survey.
Hawaii high school students (37 percent) are less likely to have ever had sex than students nationally (47 percent).
Dietary behaviors and physical activity are improving. There has been a slight decrease in the percentage of high school students who are obese, 13 percent down from 15 percent in 2007. More students are meeting the national recommendation of at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily. Soda consumption has continued to decline, with 23 percent of students reporting they drank no sugar-sweetened soda in the past seven days.
“These data demonstrate the important role of DOE wellness policy in reinforcing classroom instruction and supporting positive health behaviors,” said Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. “These results are encouraging and show that we are on the right track, but there is much left to be done.”
Detailed reports by student gender, grade and ethnicity are available online at hawaii.gov/health and hhdw.org. For a comparison of Hawaii data to national figures, visit cdc.gov/healthyyouth.