Northern Interior Kids In Good Health Says Study

Wednesday, October 07, 2009 04:14 AM

Prince George, B.C.- Following the release earlier this year of the provincial results of the McCreary Centre Society’s 2008 Adolescent Health Survey, local results are now available.

Results for the Northern Interior area, which included students in Prince George and Nechako Lakes, showed that the majority of Grade 7-12 students in Northern Interior are in good health; are feeling connected to their family, school and community; and are engaging in health promoting behaviours that will assist them to transition into healthy adults.

One major piece of good news was that the percentage of local students who took part in sports and fitness activities such as hiking, skateboarding, rollerblading, and cycling were above the rate across the province overall.

Annie Smith, Executive Director of the McCreary Centre Society said of the local results “The survey findings have produced some encouraging news for this area such as the high percentage of youth being active and getting exercise in their free time.”

“However, the results also highlight the issues faced by the most vulnerable youth in this area and show us things that can improve their health outcomes, such as having friends with healthy attitudes to risky behaviours, feeling connected to school and family, and feeling listened to in activities they are engaged in.”

Here are some of the details:

Issues:	Northern Interior	Provincial Average
Ate breakfast on School day	47%	53%
Healthy Body Weight	76%	78%
Overweight	17%	13%
Obese	5%	4%
Considered Suicide	13%	12%
Tried Smoking	35%	26%
Tried more than a few sips of alcohol	65%	54%
Tried Marijuana	39%	30%
Have Had Sex	30%	22%
Involved in Sports without Coach	76%	69%
Video game player	64%	60%
Internet User	82%	88%
Gambled in the past year	43%	39%

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Posted on Wednesday, October 07, 2009 04:14 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: He spoke on October 7 2009 8:00 AM

And more honest

Posted by: numbers on October 7 2009 11:57 AM

So? they play sports but at the same time have a higher percentage overweight, smoking, gambling?

Posted by: hammmy on October 7 2009 8:54 PM

Then why have they chosen PG for this project!

(taken from the pg Citizen)

Prince George has been selected as a location for a pilot project to battle obesity in children.
The project is funded by the Public Health Services Authority and is led by researchers at UBC and the B.C. Children's Hospital.
Dr. Shazhan Amed said the project will attempt to battle obesity by getting all areas of the community involved, including the media, grocery stores and restaurants. Dr. Amed said Prince George was selected for a number of reasons including its demographics and its weather. Studies show that one in four Canadian children are obese and that 50 per cent of obese children become obese adults.