Being healthy

Mental health

In 2004, suicide accounted for one-fifth (20%) of all deaths amongst young people aged 15-24 and was the second most common cause of death after accidental death. Around 19,000 young people attempt suicide every year and about 700 of these die as a result.

(Source: MIND website)

A study published in the British Medical Journal has found that suicide rates among young men have significantly declined over the past decade. In 2005, the suicide rate for young men aged 15 -24 was almost half the peak rate (16.6 per 100,000 in 1990) at 8.5 per 100,000.

(Source: Suicide rates in young men in England and Wales in the 21st century: time trend study, University of Bristol/Office for National Statistics, 2008.)

In 2007, 8.9% of young people aged 16-24 said that they had ever self-harmed, compared to 5.3% in 2000. The rise was particularly marked among young women, with 11.7 % of young women aged 16-24 reporting self-harm in 2007, compared with 6.5% in 2000.

(Source: Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007: Results of a household survey, NHS, 2007).

The National Inquiry into self-harm among young people aged 11-25 years old, jointly run by the Mental Health Foundation and the Camelot Foundation, has found that 1 in 15 young people has self-harmed and that some 142,000 young people present at accident and emergency departments each year as a result of their self-harm.

(Source: Truth Hurts, Mental Health Foundation/Camelot Foundation, 2006.)

In 2004, 10% of 5 to 16 year olds living in private households in Great Britain had a clinically recognised mental disorder.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 38, 2008)

A report (2008) on problem anger by the Mental Health Foundation found that 70% of young people aged 18-24 would not know where to seek help with an anger problem.

(Source: Boiling Point: problem anger and what we can do about it, Mental Health Foundation, 2008).

In 2006-07, number of young women aged 16 and under admitted to hospital because of anorexia was found to have increased by 80 per cent in the last ten years.  The increase for 17-year-olds 74 from 51 and for 18-year-olds from 40 to 61. The biggest rise was among 15-year-olds which saw 141 admission in 2006-07 compared to 75 a decade earlier.

(Source: Commons written answer, February 2009).

In 2007-8, counselling was provided by ChildLine to more than 176,000 children and young people in the UK, around two-thirds of whom were girls.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 39, 2009)

Sexual health

In 2006, 39,003 young women under 18 in England became pregnant - 40.4 per 1000, (provisional figure). This represents an overall decline of 13.3% since 1998. The provisional under-16 conception rate for England in 2005 was 7.7 per 1000 girls aged 13-15. This was 13% lower than the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy's 1998 baseline rate of 8.8 conceptions per 1000 girls aged 13-15.

(Source: Teenage Pregnancy Unit, 2008)

In 2007, the under-16 abortion rate was 4.4 and the under-18 rate was 19.8 per 1,000 women, both higher than in 2006. The abortion rate was highest at 36 per 1,000, for women age 19.

(Source: Department of Health, 2008)

In 2007-8, a third (33%) of men and 23% of women aged 16 to 24 in Great Britain reported having more than one sexual partner in the previous year.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 39, 2009)

In 2007, young people aged 16 to 24 accounted for 65% of all chlamydia diagnoses, half of genital warts and half of gonorrhoea diagnoses. The National Chlamydia Screening Programme in England performed 270,729 screens in under 25 year olds in 2007: 9.5% of screens in women and 8.4% in men were positive for chlamydia. Young people aged 16-24 account for about 11% of all HIV diagnoses each year.

(Source: Sexually transmitted Infections and Young People in the United Kingdom: 2008 Report, Health Protection Agency.)

In 2006-7, 67% of young men and 63% of young women aged 16 to 24 reported using a condom both to prevent infection and for contraceptive purposes.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 38, 2008)

In 2006, a quarter (45%) of 14 to 15 year-old young women knew about a local birth control service for young people, compared with 54% of young men who did not know about a local service.

(Source: Young People into 2007, Schools Health Education Unit, 2007)

Alcohol, drug use and smoking

Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking Among Young People in England is an annual publication containing headline figures from a survey of over 9,000 secondary schoolchildren aged 11-15 in England. The survey is carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) on behalf of the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre and Home Office. Results for the 2006 survey reveal:

• Around 9% of 11-15 years olds had taken drugs in the last month,17% had taken drugs in the last year, compared to 19% in 2005.
• The proportion of pupils who took Class A drugs in the last year was 4%, unchanged since 2001.
• 9% were regular smokers, a proportion which has remained unchanged since 2003. Girls are more likely to be regular smokers than boys (10% of girls compared with 7% of boys).
• 21% had drunk alcohol in the last week. However, nearly half (46%) had never drunk alcohol.

(Source: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/smokedrinkdrug06)

In 2006/07, 4,444 young people under the age of 16 and 14,974 16 to 24 year olds used the Talk to Frank helpline. Since it was set up in 2004, a total of 14,598 under 16s and 40,739 16 to 24 year olds have used the helpline.

(Source: Commons written answer 19/067/07).

In 2007, more than two-fifths (44%) of young men aged 16 to 24 had exceeded 4 units of alcohol on at least one day during the previous week, compared with 52% in 1998. 40% of young women reported drinking more than three units on at least one day in the previous week, compared with 42% in 1998.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 39, 2009)

In 2006, 37% of 14-15-year-olds had consumed at least one alcoholic drink in the previous week, compared to 41% in 2005. 14% of 14-15 year olds young men drank more than 10 units of alcohol 'in the previous week' and 9% drank on 3 days or more 'last week'. 23% of 14-15 year old young women, compared with 20% of young men, got drunk ‘during the last 7 days’. The off-licence remains the most important source of purchased alcohol, especially for 14-15 year olds, followed by the supermarket.

(Source: Young People into 2007, Schools Health Education Unit, 2007)

In 2007, young men aged 16 to 24 were the most likely to binge drink, with one third (32%) having done so in the previous week, compared to a quarter (24%) of young women. Binge drinking is defined by the Department of Health as consuming twice the recommended daily limits (more than eight units of alcohol a day for men and more than six units a day for women).

(Source: Social Trends, No. 39, 2009)

In 2008, a quarter (25%) of 10-15-year-olds said they had never tried an alcoholic drink. Only 6% said they had been drunk in the past month, while 35% said they had never been drunk.

(Source: TellUs3 survey, Ofsted, 2008).

In 2004-5 a third (33%) of young men and 21% of young women aged 16 to 24 had used drugs. Cannabis was the most commonly used drug, used by 30% of young men and 18% of young women. Ecstasy and cocaine were the most commonly used Class A drugs, each used by 7% of young men and 3% of young women.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 36, 2006)

In 2007/08, only 3% of 16-24 year olds reported use of any Class A drug in the past year compared to 8% in 2006/07. Frequent use of any illicit drug in the past year by 16-24 year olds has increased from 8.3%in 2006/07 to 9.3% in 2007/08.

(Source: British Crime Survey 2007/08, Home Office, 2008).

In 2006, a third of young people aged 20 to 24 were smokers (33% of young men and 29% of young women), a slight decrease on 2005.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 38, 2008)

In 2008, 11% of young people aged 10 to 15 said they had smoked a cigarette compared to one in five (21%) in 2007. Three quarters (75%) said they had never smoked a cigarette.

(Source: TellUs3 survey, Ofsted, 2008).

In 2006, over half (53%) of 14 to 15-year-old young men and only 44% of young women said they had never smoked.

(Source: Young People into 2007, Schools Health Education Unit, 2007)

Physical health

Between 1995 and 2006, levels of obesity among children aged two to fifteen in England increased from 11% to 17%. Among girls the proportion rose from 12% to 15%.

In 2007, a third of both boys and girls aged 2-15 (31% and 30%) were classified as overweight or obese.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 39, 2009)

The Chief Medical Officer recommends that adults should do moderately intense physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day on five or more days a week.

In 2008, only 28% of young people aged 10 to 15 considered themselves to be very healthy and 58% quite healthy.

(Source: TellUs3 survey, Ofsted, 2008).

In 2006, a quarter (25%) of young women aged 14 to 15 described themselves as ‘unfit' or ‘very unfit'. From 1991-2006 there is an upward trend (from 10%-20%) of 14-15 year old young women that report being unfit.

(Source: Young People into 2007, Schools Health Education Unit, 2007)

In 2006, football was reported by over half (52%) of young men aged 14 to 15 as the most popular sporting activity outside of school, followed by bike riding (38%) and jogging (24%). For young women, jogging was the most popular activity (17%), followed by bike riding (13%) and netball and football (11% and 10%).

(Source: Young People into 2007, Schools Health Education Unit, 2007)