Monitoring health and well-being of children and adolescents in Germany since 2003

Abstract

Abstract Background KiGGS - the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents is part of the German health monitoring framework providing data analyses and recommendations for politics based on own primary data collection and secondary data from other sources. In 1998, the Robert Koch Institute was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Health to develop approaches and instruments for a health survey for children and adolescents aged 0 to 17 years. Methods KiGGS is conducted at regular intervals and acts as a central source of information that collects wide-ranging, reliable data on child and adolescent health. KiGGS comprises a cross-sectional and a longitudinal component. Until now, three nationally representative surveys have been performed: KiGGS baseline (2003-2006), Wave 1 (2009-2012) and Wave 2 (2014-2017). The baseline sample comprises 17,641 children and adolescents. The KiGGS cohort is the longitudinal component of the study. To date, two follow-ups have been accomplished. Results The repeated cross-sectional surveys have provided a profound data basis in order to calculate prevalences and conduct context analyses for each period and identifying changes over time in physical and mental health status, health behaviour, utilisation of health care services and prevention as well as social, family and environmental factors. Additionally, the longitudinal data enable to analyse developments in health and their influencing factors during the life course. Reports and recommendations based on KiGGS data have been useful to support the implementation of national health programs for children and adolescents, e.g. for the prevention of childhood obesity. Conclusions Regular health interview and examination surveys are necessary to provide reliable data to derive recommendations for health politics. Furthermore, they offer a robust method to evaluate actions taken to prevent illness and promote positive health behaviour on the population level.