NATIONAL

HEALTH BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN:
WHO COLLABORATIVE CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY (HBSC)
2014 SURVEY IN SCOTLAND NATIONAL REPORT
HEALTH BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN:
WHO COLLABORATIVE CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY (HBSC)
2014 SURVEY IN SCOTLAND NATIONAL REPORT
• Most Scottish young people report high life satisfaction (87%), but the prevalence
reduces with age, especially for girls
• The proportion of young people who feel ‘very happy’ reduces steeply with age,
from 59% of 11-year olds to 27% of 15-year olds
• Feeling confident ‘always’ is more common among boys (21%) than girls (11%).
This gender difference is especially pronounced at the ages of 13 and 15
• The proportion of boys and girls ‘always’ feeling confident has been gradually
declining since a peak in the mid-2000s
• Boys (21%) are more likely than girls (13%) to report that they ‘never’ feel left out of things
• 26% of young people report their health as ‘excellent’ and a further 56% describe
their health as ‘good’
• At ages 13 and 15, more boys (27%) than girls (16%) report excellent health
• The proportion of 11-15 year olds reporting excellent health increased between
2010 (21%) and 2014 (26%)
• 31% of young people report having two or more health complaints at least
once a week, with a steep age-related increase in girls
• The gender gap in multiple health complaints is now at its widest in the past 20 years,
with 39% of girls and 23% of boys reporting two or more weekly complaints
• 59% of 13- and 15-year olds report using medicine in the previous month, with
substantially more girls than boys using medicine at age 15
• Girls report higher levels of psychological stress than boys, and 15-year olds are
more likely to report feeling stressed than 13-year olds
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