KEY POINTS:
Teenagers are healthier, happier and better fed than their counterparts seven years ago, says research being released today.
The findings from Youth'07, New Zealand's second national secondary school health and wellbeing survey, conducted by the Adolescent Health Research Group at the University of Auckland, were compared with the first such survey, conducted in 2001.
In general, today's secondary school students were happier about their lives, less likely to be depressed, had better nutrition and were more physically active and were less likely to be using cigarettes and marijuana than students in 2001.
The survey was done in more than 100 randomly selected secondary schools with a total of nearly 9500 students.
Principal investigator Simon Denny, of the university's Department of Paediatrics, said the surveys were unique.
"They are the largest and most comprehensive health and wellbeing surveys of young people in New Zealand and they're about young people themselves telling us how they see their lives - from their perspective," he said.
"The proportion of students with concerning levels of depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts and behaviours has decreased markedly since 2001."
But Dr Denny said there were areas of concern.
"A concerning percentage of young people and their families face socioeconomic hardship, there was a significant number of young people who experience severe violence in their lives and the frequency and amount of alcohol young people are drinking remains a problem."
The surveys were undertaken as part of a drive to provide timely and accurate information for policy-makers, parents, schools and communities to improve the health status of young people. The research was financed by a number of ministries, Government-funded bodies and national organisations.
- NZPA
