Analysis:A healthy eating message may be getting through, writes Dr Muiris Houston, Medical Correspondent, but poorer children's diets need attention
The third Irish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Surveyis the largest yet study to examine the health of nine to 17-year-olds in the Republic. As such, it offers a valuable insight into issues such as food consumption, alcohol and drug use and smoking in children and adolescents.
How does the 2006 HBSC survey compare with the previous studies from 1998 and 2002? Generally, the news is good, with no significant worsening of health behaviours. In the case of smoking, the results are very encouraging.
Some 15 per cent of 10-to 17- year-olds say they smoke, a significant drop from the 21 per cent recorded in 1998. This reduction is evident throughout all socio-economic groups while for boys aged 15 to 17, there is a sharp drop in those who say they have "never smoked".
The previous pattern, whereby a higher percentage of 15-to-17- year-old-girls smoked (28 per cent) compared to boys of the same age group (23 per cent) persists, however. The substantial reduction in smoking can be attributed to a range of health promotion measures: the introduction of the smoking ban; price increases (including additional taxes) for tobacco products; and the positive influence of the social, personal and health education (SPHE) module in schools.
While the figures for alcohol consumption have not increased since the last survey, about half the adolescents aged 15 to 17 report that they are drinkers.
This level of binge drinking in younger people in the Republic is extremely worrying. On a more positive note, 47 per cent of the children surveyed said they have never had an alcoholic drink, up from 40 per cent in 2002. Interestingly, no social class differences emerge for alcohol use.
Cannabis use has remained relatively stable at 12 per cent, although there has been a reduction in usage among 15 to 17-year-old boys.
Given the established evidence that cannabis can precipitate psychosis and schizophrenia in vulnerable young people, clearly more needs to be done to tackle the use of the drug and to heighten awareness of its serious side effects.
The increase in children eating fruit and vegetables, although marginal, is welcome. With rising obesity levels, eating well is an important element of weight control. Eating five portions a day of fruit and vegetables helps to protect against a variety of cancers.
When combined with a drop in the number of children eating sweets and drinking soft drinks, it offers hope that a healthy eating message is finally making an impact.
As well as diet, children's exercise levels are a key factor in the inexorably rising levels of type 2 diabetes brought on by obesity. The slight increase in physical activity levels in the latest survey is encouraging therefore, although the drop-off in exercise levels among older girls remains a problem (58 per cent of 10 to 11-year-old girls exercise regularly compared with just 28 per cent of 15 to 17-year-olds).
Activity levels among nine-year-olds, included for the first time in a HSBC survey, are high, with more than 70 per cent of children engaging in vigorous exercise four or more times a week.
Despite the boom economic years, 17 per cent of children say they have gone to bed or to school hungry because there was no food at home. Surprisingly, these is no evidence that this experience is more common in children from deprived areas.
A quarter of girls said they never had breakfast before school, which raises questions about their ability to concentrate in class. Dieting at a young age is known to be linked to weight problems later in life.
Road safety campaigners will be pleased at the significant increase in children who wear seat belts. In 2006, some 83 per cent of girls used belts, compared with 65 per cent in 2002. Media campaigns, law enforcement and the penalty points system have undoubtedly contributed to improved seat belt compliance.
However, levels of bullying remain stubbornly unchanged. Bullying continues to be more frequent among younger children, regardless of social class.
While social class difference is unremarkable for some of the health parameters studies, it still exists when it comes to the consumption of fruit, especially among girls. Children of professional parents are more likely to eat fruit more than once a day than children in lower socio-economic groups 5 and 6.
A similar class effect exists for vegetable consumption, while children from social classes 1 and 2 are less likely to consume soft drinks.
There is a message here for health educationalists and policymakers: if we are to address the relatively high rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease in this segment of the population, then new and innovative methods must be found to positively influence the dietary habits of children (and adults) from lower socio-economic groups.