The front page of SAYCW Youth Health Survey.
New research is painting a picture of how young people in Saskatchewan are living, with some key findings made in the areas of mental health, sexual health, and nutrition.
The Youth Health Survey includes feedback from more than 8,800 young people between Grade 7 and 12. The Saskatchewan Alliance for Youth and Community Well-being gathered the students’ responses in 2015. A survey of this type has never been undertaken in the province.
Four per cent of the youths surveyed live on reserve, and one in five identify as First Nations or Metis.
Sexual health numbers showed 43 per cent of the students were sexually active. Of those, most first had intercourse at 15 years old.
There were some exceptional differences between males and females in relation to the mental health and wellbeing. For example, 12 per cent of males said they had ever committed self harm, while nearly one in three girls said they had harmed themselves.
The percentage of males who “had felt sad or hopeless within the last year to a point where they stopped their regular activities for a period of time” was 20 per cent lower than the 59 per cent of girls who felt that way.
Overall, the survey found two in three students “had been bullied in some way in the past year.”
In 2015, nearly a fifth of surveyed youths considered suicide. Of those youths, half of them attempted suicide.
On the topic of drugs and alcohol, nearly a third of youths surveyed had drank alcohol in the past month and more than a fifth had “ever tried” drugs.
According to the body mass index, the survey found 16 per cent of youths were overweight, and 12 per cent were obese.
There was a large disconnect between people’s perceptions of weight and the reality, with half of the obese males believing they were “about the right weight” and 26 per cent of females feeling that way.
SAYCW was created in 2012 to follow the model of a similar agency in Manitoba, and has 30 partner agencies.
Youth Health Survey’s opening comments say “it is hoped that this report can help to identify areas of youth health and well-being that require attention, as we work towards a healthier province.”