(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – More Kentucky high school students are risking poor health due to obesity while fewer are smoking, according to a survey on risk behaviors.
The 2003 Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) shows that one-third of the respondents are overweight or at risk of being overweight. Students also reported low levels of physical activity – 10 percent reported no physical activity at all in the previous week, and 40 percent did not participate in either vigorous or moderate levels of physical activity in the week prior to the survey. Some 35 percent of students attended physical education classes during an average week. Thirty-one percent of students spent 3 or more hours watching TV on average school nights.
At the time of the survey, 33 percent of the respondents indicated that they had smoked a cigarette within the past 30 days, a decrease of 14 percent since 1997. Fewer students also indicated that they had ever sniffed glue or paint to get high -- 25 percent answered "yes" in 1997, while 14 percent did in 2003.
"We know that there is a direct connection between risky health behaviors and students' performance in school," said Kentucky Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit. "The Department of Education and the Kentucky Board of Education have encouraged local school boards and school-based decision making councils to adopt a Comprehensive School Health Program, and the information from this survey will help us tailor programs and strategies that best meet the needs of students."
Nutrition is an area of concern, since 18 percent of respondents reported that they ate no fruits or vegetables in the previous week and only 13 percent ate the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Most respondents reported that they had access to vending machines at their schools, and nearly half indicated that they purchased regular soda (not diet) on a daily basis through those machines. Thirty percent of students ate lunch one or more times a week mostly or entirely from snacks bought from vending machines.
Of significant concern is the number of students who report having been diagnosed with diabetes – a chronic disease that causes many health problems. Four percent of students reported having been told that they have diabetes by a health care provider, and 13 percent have been told that they are at risk for developing diabetes.
Dr. Rice Leach, the public health commissioner, said the rates of overweight youths, low levels of physical activity, poor nutritional habits and number of young people already diagnosed with diabetes suggests a very unhealthy future for these high school students.
"I congratulate the Department of Education on adopting the CDC's Coordinated School Health model," Dr. Leach said. "Parents and other adults can help the schools, health departments, agricultural extension service and the rest of the health care team by practicing these same principles at home."
To provide local boards of education and school-based decision making councils with
guidelines to help students stay healthy, the Department of Education has adopted the Coordinated School Health model endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The model includes eight components, including school health and physical education; health and nutrition services; and family and community involvement.
The CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey measures behaviors in six categories: behaviors that result in unintentional injuries or violence; tobacco use; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors that result in HIV infection, other sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies; dietary behaviors; physical activity.
Administered by the University of Kentucky Center for Prevention Research, the survey was completed anonymously by more than 1,600 students in 65 Kentucky public high schools in the spring of 2003. The Kentucky Department of Education, the Kentucky Department for Public Health, local health departments and local school systems collaborated on the 2003 survey.
The survey is administered every two years during odd-numbered years. This is the first time since 1997 that the survey has presented weighted data, making it comparable to 1997's survey data.
2003 YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEY
Areas of Likely Improvement
Smoked a cigarette in the past 30 days 47% (1997)
33% (2003)
Ever sniffed glue or paint to get high
25% (1997)
14% (2003)
Ever smoked a cigarette
77% (1997)
71% (2003)
Smoked a cigarette on school property in the past 30 days
25% (1997)
14% (2003)
Used marijuana in the past 30 days
29% (1997)
21% (2003)
Ever used any form of cocaine
8% (1997)
4% (2003)
2003 YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEY
Areas of Worsening Behaviors
Exercised or participated in vigorous physical activities for at least 20 minutes on at least three days
60% (1997)
44% (2003)
Ever pregnant or gotten someone pregnant
6% (1997)
8% (2003)
Attempted suicide in the past 12 months
7% (1997)
11% (2003)
For more information about the survey, click here.
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