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August 25, 2003
HONOLULU - The Departments of Health (DOH) and Education (DOE) will
soon be sending over 100,000 pamphlets entitled “Hawaii School
Health Surveys 2000-2002” home with all 6th to 12th graders in
public schools statewide. The pamphlets feature highlights of findings
from three important student health surveys conducted by the DOH in
collaboration with the DOE.
The Hawaii Student Alcohol and Other Drug Use Survey, the Hawaii
Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and the Hawaii Youth Tobacco Survey gather
information about the health behaviors and attitudes of public school
students in grades 6-12. They include questions about alcohol and drug
use, nutrition, tobacco use, physical activities, intentional and
unintentional injuries, and sexual behaviors that result in sexually
transmitted diseases or unintentional pregnancy.
Dr. Chiyome Fukino, Director of Health said, “Some of the
highlighted findings show improvement over previous results, but
there’s still much work to do. It’s certainly not easy to
look at the prevalence of substance abuse, sexual activity and violence
among our youth, but it is critical that we monitor this activity and
the attitudes our children have toward these issues so we can
effectively address them and work to reduce risk factors that lead to
these behaviors.”
Some of the survey findings include:
- In 2002, lifetime prevalence reports of methamphetamine use in
grades 8 (2%), 10 (4%), and 12 (5%) were more than 50% lower than 1989
rates of 6%, 10%, and 12% respectively.
- Hawaii alcohol and cigarette use are lower than nationwide
averages. Alcohol rates are at an all-time low for all grades.
- Ecstasy use in Hawaii’s youth continues to rise in grades 8,
10, and 12.
- 9% of high school students drove after drinking, down from 14% in
1999.
- 10% of high and 5% of middle school students were physically abused
by a boy/girlfriend in the past year.
During August and September, parents of public school students in
grades 6-12 will also receive an envelope containing a parent/guardian
permission card allowing their child to participate in one of the three
surveys, a message from the DOE and fact sheets on the surveys. All
parents are strongly urged to read the materials and complete and
return the permission card. Each student will be randomly assigned to
one of the three surveys if written parent permission is given. All
health survey procedures are anonymous and are designed to protect a
student’s privacy.
Maximum participation from all students is critical to ensuring
scientific validity and reliability of the survey results. Low
participation rates can often prevent schools and organizations from
demonstrating their funding needs for adolescent programs and can
inhibit their ability to provide the best health education services for
students.
The School Health Surveys Project is supported through Tobacco
Settlement Funds and the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block
Grant. Pamphlets can be obtained by contacting the Community Adolescent
Program at 733-8339. The pamphlet and all report findings are also
available on the Department of Health website at www.hawaii.gov/doh.
For more information contact:
Janice Okubo
Department of Health
Phone: (808) 586-4442
Candice Calhoun, ACSW, LSW
Community Adolescent Program, Department of Health
Phone: (808) 733-8339
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