New young people’s health briefings
Our team has delved into the findings of the 2022 States of Guernsey Children and Young People’s survey which have recently been published and have created four Young People’s Health Briefings which can be found below.
The briefings summarise key findings of the 2022 survey in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, alcohol and drugs and smoking and vaping, the areas that we work closely in. We’ve compared the findings to previous surveys too, to paint a picture of the trends in key health behaviours. The 2022 survey is the first since the Covid-19 pandemic. As is usual, the findings include some results which are encouraging and some which are more concerning.
Starting with the positive, many health behaviours amongst young people are the same or better than before the pandemic. This includes overall improvements in areas such as active travel, the number of young people doing activities that strengthen their muscles and bones, the presence of fruit and vegetables in young people’s lunchboxes, as well as reductions in past month cannabis use, and low levels of alcohol consumption amongst Year 6 and 8 pupils. Fewer young people reported being exposed to smoking in cars and at home than in previous years, however around 7% remain exposed to this significant health risk.
The briefings also highlight some areas of concern including persistent overall low levels of fruit and vegetable consumption and small increases in the presence of less healthy food items in lunch boxes. The findings also show an increase in regular vaping amongst older adolescents. Whilst the percent of Year 10 boys reporting drinking alcohol in the last week remained relatively stable, there was a sharp increase amongst Year 10 girls.
We hope that the briefings are a useful resource for organisations, individuals, and teams inside and outside of government who work, like us, in areas that shape young people’s health including education, healthcare, policy, youth work and the third sector.
The survey results provide a wealth of information, and whilst our briefings focus on the health behaviours in the areas that we work, information is also available on social relationships, school life and other areas of well-being. Our team are happy to be contacted to discuss the briefings further and you can visit our workstream pages for contact details and the variety of projects and initiatives that we run to help improve health in these areas.