Abstract
Introduction: Monitoring of health behaviours, especially of adolescents, is essential for the future of each nation. Over the last decades, many changes have occurred in all aspects of our lives, affecting the health and quality of life of all people, including children and adolescents.Methods: The study is based on a quantitative research method. The survey was conducted on a representative sample of Slovenian 11-, 13- and 15-year-old adolescents, using a standardised international questionnaire (HBSC study – Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children). The survey was carried out with the assistance of school counsellors in the spring of 2002, 2006 and 2010 (n = 15.080). For determining the correlation between two individual years, the chi-square test (c2) was used. The significance level was calculated using the statistical significance value of p ≤ 0.05. Through the Cochran-Armitage trend test, it was established whether a trend existed for the selected indicators in the period between 2002 and 2010.Results: There are some favourable trends, e.g. eating breakfast (p = 0.000), tooth brushing (p = 0.000), lower proportion of individuals who rate their health as poor (p = 0.002) and experience several psychosomatic symptoms (p = 0.000), but also unfavourable trends, e.g. decrease in physical activity (p = 0.023), increase in early alcohol consumption (p = 0.000), dissatisfaction with school (p = 0.000) and bullying others (p = 0.000).Discussion and conclusion: The conclusions of the analyses can serve as a useful basis for further work and development of systemic measures to promote healthy behaviours and prevent risky and unhealthy behaviours among children and adolescents.
Highlights
Monitoring of health behaviours, especially of adolescents, is essential for the future of each nation
The focus of the study was on dietary habits, tooth brushing, physical activity, tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use, sexual behaviour, violence, self-rated health, injuries and some factors related to school
With regard to the proportion of adolescents who eat breakfast regularly, Slovenia ranks last among the countries included in the study, in all three age groups
Summary
Monitoring of health behaviours, especially of adolescents, is essential for the future of each nation. One of them is that young people are the future and the pillar of the society During adolescence they develop their lifestyle and behaviours that characterise them through life and influence the course and quality of their lives, success and health (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2004; World Health Organization, 2005, 2006) and the health of the following generations (World Health Organization, 2005). Child and adolescent health is becoming more dependent on social, community and environmental factors Due to their insecurities (employment, schooling, etc.), increasing contradictions (between equality and differences, individuality and unpredictability, etc.) and increasing problems related to key areas of their lives, adolescents are becoming more and more vulnerable and sensitive. Health is one of the most important values among adolescents, and on the other hand there are many insecurities related to health (Ule, et al, 2000, 2003; Ule, 2008)
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