NUIG role in study on attitudes of the young

Young people are happier and healthier than their counterparts a decade ago, according to a major new study into the wellbeing of adolescents across Europe and North America.

A study, part of collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), sheds new light on the habits and happiness of eleven to fifteen year olds in over 40 different countries across a 16 year period from 1994 to 2010.

The Irish partners, Drs Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, Michal Molcho and Colette Kelly from the Health Promotion Research Centre in NUI Galway co-authored the study launched this week.

Findings include some significant improvements in how young people report their own health and well-being. Overall, the results suggest that contemporary adolescents are in a better position than past generations.

“Adolescence is a crucial stage in life when you lay the foundation for adulthood, whether that’s healthy or otherwise. While there is much to celebrate about the health and well-being of many young people today, others continue to experience real and worrying problems,” explained NUI Galway’s Dr Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, Principal Investigator for Ireland.

Over the past decade in Ireland there has been a decline in school-aged children drinking alcohol weekly and in experiencing multiple injuries. There have also been improvements in both self-rated health and ease of communication with parents.

However, the study found increased pressure from schoolwork and no reductions in bullying. The study also identified a significant rise in Ireland of children from less affluent families having more health complaints.

“By comparing today’s young people with their counterparts a decade ago we can better understand how their health is influenced by the circumstances in which they live; of real concern must now be the increases in social inequalities in Ireland, where children from poorer homes are more likely to report ill-health, and the gap between rich and poor has increased over time,” added Dr Nic Gabhainn.

The study, led by St Andrews in Scotland, is the only study of its kind in Europe and North America.

It features 20 papers from researchers taking part in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, a cross-national collaboration with the WHO. HBSC Ireland is funded by the Department of Health.

The papers included in the report describe how trends can be interpreted when looking at patterns and differences between countries, across areas such as eating habits, obesity, physical activity, bullying, safe sex, communication at home, and the use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis.

Despite the generally positive findings, many – if not the majority – of adolescents living in Europe and North America, still do not meet the recommendations for healthy living.

Critically, several key groups still remain at risk of poor health, with potentially damaging and long-lasting consequences.

The detailed analyses revealed that girls, older children and in particular those in Northern European countries experience lower levels of life satisfaction.

Findings also reveal that in the majority of countries, children from less affluent families had more health complaints. This inequality has increased significantly over time in Ireland, as it has in Austria, Canada, France and Lithuania.