Health Behaviour in School Aged Children
The HBSC Ireland Research Team, Health Promotion Research Centre, University of Galway.
1998
To increase understanding of young people's health and well-being and to use the findings to inform and influence health promotion policy and practice at national and international levels. The sample frame includes all schools in Ireland with pupils from 3-6th class in primary schools and 1st-pre-leaving certificate in post-primary schools. Schools with only junior classes or only leaving certificate classes are not sampled.
The target age groups for the HBSC study are 11, 13 and 15 year olds attending school. These age groups represent the onset of adolescence, the challenge of physical and emotional changes, and the middle years when important life and career decisions are beginning to be made. HBSC Ireland collects data from children from 3rd class to 5th year (pre-leaving certificate year), ages from 9-17 years. Data have been collected in the Spring terms of 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is a crossnational research study conducted in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The study aims to gain new insight into, and increase our understanding of young people’s health and well-being, health behaviours and their social context. In addition, the findings from the HBSC surveys are used to inform and influence children’s policy and practice at national and international levels. HBSC was initiated in 1982. HBSC 2022 involves more than 200,000 children from 51 countries and regions across Europe and North America.
Government Departments, NGOs, Academic Researchers, WHO/UNICEF/OECD/EU.
Health behaviours: physical activity; eating and dieting; smoking; alcohol use; cannabis use; sexual behaviour; violence and bullying; injuries. Health outcomes: symptoms; life satisfaction; self-reported health.
Yes there is a data dictionary that can be shared with data users.
No national level identifiers are included in this data.
The equity stratifiers in the data include, age, gender, social class, migrant status, place of birth (self and parents), traveller status, disability status, carer status, local area perceptions and family affluence.
Survey, self-completion questionnaire administered in school classrooms. Data are collected every four years since 1998.
Not in use.
13,000-16,000 every four years.
Every four years. Reports, papers, factsheets and data visuals available at www.universityofgalway.ie/hbsc/
National data can be requested from the HBSC Ireland Helpdesk; hbsc@nuigalway.ie; Irish data is also available in the international data portal: http://hbsc-nesstar.nsd.no/webview/
No.
International data, including Irish data, can also be accessed via the HBSC data portal at: http://hbsc-nesstar.nsd.no/webview/ or via http://www.uib.no/en/hbscdata/94226/access-other-hbsc-survey-data