Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)

Background

Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is an international collaboration that has been going on for 30 years. The Public Health Agency is responsible for the Swedish part and we in the research group participate in the Swedish research team and international cooperation. The HBSC research network is an international alliance of researchers that collaborate on the cross-national survey of school student’s health behaviour. The research venture dates back to 1982, when researchers from England, Finland and Norway agreed to develop and implement a shared research protocol to survey school children. By 1983 the HBSC study was adopted by the WHO Regional Office for Europe as a collaborative study. HBSC now includes 43 countries and regions across Europe and North America.

Aim

The aim is to provide knowledge about young people's living conditions, lifestyles and health. Behaviours established during adolescence can continue into adulthood, affecting issues such as mental health, the development of health complaints, physical activity levels, diet, tobacco and alcohol use. HBSC focuses on understanding young people's health in their social context – where they live, at school, with family and friends. Researchers in the HBSC network are interested in understanding how these factors, individually and together, influence young people's health as they move from childhood into young adulthood.   

Method

The HBSC collects data every four years on 11-, 13- and 15-year-old boys' and girls' health and well-being, social environments and health behaviours. These years mark a period of increased autonomy that can influence how their health and health-related behaviours develop. The international standard questionnaire produced for every survey cycle enables the collection of common data across all participating countries and thus enables the quantification of patterns of key health behaviours, health indicators and contextual variables. These data allow cross-national comparisons to be made and, with successive surveys, trend data is gathered and may be examined at both the national and cross-national level. The international network is organized around an interlinked series of focus and topic groups related to the following areas: Body image, Bullying and fighting, Eating behaviours, Health complaints, Injuries, Life satisfaction, Obesity, Oral health, Physical activity and sedentary behaviour, Relationships, Family and Peers, School environment, Self-rated health, Sexual behaviour, Socioeconomic environment, Substance use Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis, and Weight reduction behaviour.

This research collaboration brings in individuals with a wide range of expertise in areas such as clinical medicine, epidemiology, human biology, pediatrics, pedagogy, psychology, public health, public policy and sociology. The approach to study development has therefore involved cross-fertilization of a range of perspectives. As such, the HBSC study is the product of topic-focused groups that collaborate to develop the conceptual foundations of the study, identify research questions, decide the methods and measurements to be employed, and work on data analyses and the dissemination of findings. 

Results and Publications

HBSC is an extensive databank and repository of multidisciplinary expertise, which can support and further their research interests, lobby for change, inform policy and practice, and monitor trends over time.