Latest
CDC teen behavior survey also finds fewer fights, too much texting and driving
Cigarette smoking
rates among high school students have dropped to the lowest levels since the
National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) began in 1991, according to the 2013 results released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By achieving a teen
smoking rate of 15.7 percent, the United States has met its national Healthy People 2020
objective of reducing adolescent cigarette use to 16 percent or less.
Despite this
progress, reducing overall tobacco use remains a significant challenge. For
example, other national surveys show increases in hookah and e-cigarette use.
In the YRBS, no change in smokeless tobacco use was observed among adolescents
since 1999, and the decline in cigar use has slowed in recent years, with cigar
use now at 23 percent among male high school seniors.
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The percentage of
high school students nationwide who had been in a physical fight at least once
during the past 12 months decreased from 42 percent in 1991 to 25 percent in
2013.
·
Fights on school
property have been cut in half during the past 20 years. Sixteen percent
of high school students were in at least one physical fight on school property
during the 12 months before the survey in 1993, compared to 8 percent in 2013.
For the first time,
the surveys conducted by states and large urban school districts gathered
information on texting and e-mailing by adolescents while driving. The survey’s
findings indicate that the use of technology while driving continues to put
youth at risk:
· Among high school students who had driven a car or
other vehicle during the past 30 days, the percentage of high school students
who texted or e-mailed while driving ranged from 32 percent to 61 percent
across 37 states and from 19 percent to 43 percent across 15 large urban school
districts.
· Nationwide, 41 percent of students who had driven a
car or other vehicle during the past 30 days reported texting or emailing while
driving.
The new YRBS report
shows mixed results regarding youth sexual risk behaviors.
· The percentage of high school students who are
currently sexually active (had sexual intercourse during the past three months)
has declined from 38 percent in 1991 to 34 percent in 2013.
· Among the high school students who are currently
sexually active, condom use also has declined from 63 percent in 2003 to 59
percent in 2013. This decline follows a period of increased condom use
throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.
The report also
indicates varied trends in obesity-related behaviors in recent years, such as
excessive screen time and drinking sugar-sweetened beverages like soda.
· From 2003−2013, the percent of high school students
using a computer three or more hours per day (for non-school related work)
nearly doubled from 22 percent to 41 percent.
· The percentage of high school students who watch
three or more hours of TV on an average school day decreased since 1999 (from
43 percent to 32 percent).
· There was a significant decrease in drinking soda
(or pop) one or more times per day from 34 percent in 2007 to 27 percent in
2013.
About the
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
CDC’s YRBSS is the
only surveillance system designed to monitor a wide range of priority health
risk behaviors among representative samples of high school students at the
national, state, and local levels. National, state, and large urban school
district surveys are conducted every two years among high school students
throughout the United States. These surveys monitor priority health risk
behaviors including unintentional injuries and violence; sexual behaviors that
contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including
HIV infection; tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; unhealthy dietary
behaviors; and physical inactivity. These surveys also monitor obesity and
asthma.
More than 13,000 U.S.
high school students participated in the 2013 National YRBS. Parental
permission was obtained for students to participate in the survey, student
participation was voluntary, and responses were anonymous. States and large
urban school districts could modify the questionnaire for their own surveys to
meet their needs. The 2013 YRBSS report includes National YRBS data and data
from surveys conducted in 42 states and 21 large urban school districts.
The National YRBS
is one of three HHS-sponsored surveys that provide data on substance abuse
among youth nationally. The others are the National Survey on Drug Use and
Health (NSDUH), sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration – a primary source of statistics on substance use among Americans
age 12 and older (www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda.htm);
and the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study funded by the National Institute on
Drug Abuse – part of the National Institutes of Health– and conducted by the
University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (http://monitoringthefuture.org). The MTF
study tracks substance use and related attitudes among students in the 8th,
10th, and 12th grades.
The 2013 YRBS data are
available at www.cdc.gov/yrbs.
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