Background Information HBSC

HBSC International

Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is a cross-national 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 and is conducted every 4 years.  HBSC 2010 involves more than 200,000 children from 43 countries.  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.

For more information click here http://www.hbsc.org/

HBSC In Ireland

The population of young people (up to 19 years) in the Republic of Ireland is 1,154,706. Young people represent 27% of the population, which is higher than the European average ( http://www.cso.ie/). With such a high proportion of young people, investing in their health and well-being is essential and HBSC plays a pivotal role in this regard.

The Health Promotion Research Centre, National University of Ireland, Galway was invited to join the HBSC network in 1994 and conducted the first survey of Irish schoolchildren in 1998. The 2010 survey will be the fourth time that Ireland is involved in this international collaboration. HBSC Ireland surveys school-going children aged 9-18 years.

Findings from HBSC Ireland have been widely distributed in reports, journal articles and presentations to various interest groups ( publications & reports). As well as serving a monitoring and a knowledge-generating function, one of the key objectives of HBSC has been to inform policy and practice. In particular, Irish data have been used to inform the following: the National Health Promotion Strategy 2000-2005, the National Children’s Strategy – Our Children, Their Lives, Developing an Adolescent Friendly Health Service, The report of the Cardiovascular Health Strategy Group - Building Healthier Hearts, the annual reports of the Chief Medial Officer, Building on Experience: National Drugs Strategy 2001-2008, the reports of the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol, HRB reports to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Abuse and the Obesity Task Force report.

HBSC 2001/02 has also been used as a primary data source in two recent publications; Bradshaw J, Hoelscher P & Richardson D (2007), 'Comparing Child Well-Being in OECD Countries: Concepts and Methods;.  Innocenti Wroking Paper No. 2006-03.   UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence ( Innocenti Working Paper) and UNICEF, Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries, Innocenti Report Card 7, 2007 UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence ( An overview of child well-being in rich countries) 

Data from the 2006 survey also contributed to the monitoring of child well-being in Ireland through the State of the Nation’s Children reports to be produced by the Office of the Minister for Children.

HBSC Ireland 2006

For the 2006 HBSC study a nationally representative sample of school-aged children (primary & post-primary) from the Republic of Ireland was drawn. Data from the last national census of the population in 2002 was employed to provide a picture of the distribution of children across the country. Ethical approval was granted by the NUI Galway Research Ethics Committee. Individual schools were randomly selected and class groups within schools were subsequently randomly selected.

HBSC Ireland 2010

The 2010 HBSC Ireland Report will be launched on 17th February 2012 and will be available to download from this website. A total of 256 primary and post primary schools took part with 16,060 children completing the questionnaire. 

HBSC Study Method & Design

HBSC is a school-based survey with data collected through self-completion questionnaires administered by teachers in the classroom. To obtain the Irish HBSC participant sample, lists of primary and post primary schools were obtained from the Department of Education and Science. Schools across the country were randomly selected and invited to participate. Full details on the procedures adopted can be found in the reports of the National Health and Lifestyle Surveys http://www.nuigalway.ie/health_promotion/research/publications.htm.  The HBSC survey instrument is a standard questionnaire developed by the international research network and used by all participating countries.

Each survey questionnaire contains a core set of questions looking at the following:

• Background factors: demographics and maturation, social background (family structure, socio-economic status)
• Individual and social resources: body image, family support, peers, school environment
• Health behaviours: physical activity, eating and dieting, smoking, alcohol use, cannabis use, and bullying, injuries
• Health outcomes: symptoms, life satisfaction, self-reported health, Body Mass Index

Many countries also include additional items in their national questionnaire that are of particular interest on a national level.

Research Findings

Factsheets detailing the research findings from both the 2002 and 2006 surveys can be obtained by clicking here (Factsheets 2002)  (Factsheets 2006).

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