BC Children's Views On Health Issues

Vancouver, BC - An Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of the BC Children's Hospital Foundation among BC children aged 10-16 revealed the following results.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid online poll conducted between May 22nd and June 4th, 2007. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 673 BC Children ages 10-16 reached via Ipsos Reid's I-Say Household Panel. Ipsos Reid obtained parental consent for their children to participate in the research. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of BC children (10-16 years of age) been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual BC population of children (10-16 years of age) according to Census data.

Most Important Health Concerns Facing Children

BC children aged 10-16 believe that diet-related concerns are the top health concerns facing children these days. Obesity and eating healthy are the most frequently mentioned items under this heading.

Overall, 53% of BC children (aged 10-16) mentioned diet-related issues as the most important health issues facing BC children their age. This includes obesity/being overweight (31% mentions), trying to eat healthy (22%), general concerns about weight (6%), and eating disorders (4%). [Note: specific mentions do not add to total due to multiple responses]

By comparison, 29% mentioned diseases/illness (specifically: cancer, STDs, diabetes, and asthma); 20% raised substance abuse as an issue (drugs, alcohol), 19% talked about exercise; 9% mentioned smoking; 6% cold/flu/cough, 5% stress, 5% allergies.

There is some variation among children's top health concerns across regions:

• Substance abuse is identified as a bigger health concern on Vancouver Island than in the Lower Mainland (24% vs.16%)
• Mental health/stress issues are more prevalent in the Southern Interior than in the Lower Mainland (5% vs. 1%)

Gender differences are also evident:

• More girls than boys see eating disorders as a health concern (7% vs. 1%)

Age matters too:

• Eating healthy is seen to be a top health concern by more children 10-12 than 13-16 year olds (27% vs. 18%)
• Weight is a bigger concern among 13-16 year olds (9% vs. 3% for children aged 10-12)

What Contributes To Good Health?

There is a strong consensus among BC children that exercise, diet, and sleep are the top 3 contributors to good health. Three-quarters or more cite that these factors contribute strongly (either a great deal or a fair amount) to good health. Notably, one-half to two-thirds of children surveyed felt that getting regular exercise and watching what they ate contributed "a great deal" to good health.

The breakdown of important factors is as follows:

• Getting regular exercise - 92% contributes great deal/fair amount to good health
• Watching what you eat - 86%
• Getting enough sleep - 80%
• Watching how much you eat - 76%
• Watching what you drink - 68%
• Keeping a positive attitude - 64%
• Taking vitamins - 42%

There are variations in responses among young males and females:

• Girls are more likely than boys to believe strongly that watching what you drink (72% vs. 65%, respectively) and keeping a positive attitude (69% vs. 60%) are important to good health.

Age also matters:

• Getting regular exercise is seen as a stronger factor for good health among 15-16 year olds than children 10-12 (95% vs. 90%) though both still strongly agree that it is important.
• Taking vitamins is also viewed more importantly among 10-12 year olds than 13-16 year olds (49% vs. 37%).

What Contributes to Bad Health?

Youth are in agreement that the top contributors to bad health are cigarettes and drugs. Fully 9-in-10 youth surveyed stated that smoking cigarettes or taking drugs contribute to bad health. Significantly, more than 8-in-10 asserted that these two actions contribute "a great deal" to bad health, a much higher proportion than all other factors.

The breakdown in factors that contribute a great deal or a fair amount to bad health is as follows:

• Smoking cigarettes - 93%
• Taking illegal drugs - 91%
• Being overweight - 88%
• Lack of regular exercise - 84%
• Drinking alcohol/beer - 83%
• Eating unhealthy foods - 80%
• Eating junk food - 74%
• Not getting enough sleep - 71%
• Stress - 70%

There are some regional differences:

• Consumption of alcohol/beer is seen as a greater contributor to bad health on Vancouver Island than in the Lower Mainland (88% vs. 80%).
• Stress is also seen as contributing more to bad health in the Southern Interior than the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island (79% vs. 69% and 64%).

Some gender differences also exist:

• More girls than boys felt that eating unhealthy foods (84% vs. 77%, respectively), not getting enough sleep (77% vs. 66%) and stress (75% vs. 65%) contributed to bad health.

Age also shows some differences in perceptions:

• Older youth (15-16 year olds) are generally more likely than 10-12 year olds to feel that smoking cigarettes (97% vs. 90%), taking drugs (95% vs. 89%), being overweight (93% vs. 86%) and stress (78% vs. 65%) lead to `bad health'.

Who's Responsible For Personal Health?

Overall, 53% of BC children believe their parents are most responsible for keeping them in good health, compared to 43% who feel they are personally responsible for their health. Two percent put responsibility in the hands of schools, 1% think it's the doctor, and 1% say it's government.

Some subgroup differences do emerge. For example:

• Girls are more likely to place responsibility on themselves (49% vs. 38% of boys) and boys are more likely to place it on their parents (59% vs. 48% of girls).
• The younger the child the more likely they are to place the responsibility on their parents; 61% of 10-14 year olds believe their parents are most responsible for their health vs. 34% of 15-16 year olds.
• Children living in a household with annual income of less than $60K are more likely to view their parents as most responsible for their well being than those who live in $60K+ households.

Current Personal Health Evaluation/Rating

Most youth feel positively about their personal health.

• 85% rate their health as either "good" (55%) or "excellent" (30%).
• 13% rate their health as "fair"
• 2% see their health as "poor" or "very poor"

Although personal health ratings are positive across all regions and demographic subgroups in BC's population, there are a few differences worth noting.

By region:

• Fewer youth on Vancouver Island rate their health as "excellent" than those in the Lower Mainland (21% vs. 33%).

By age:

• Fewer 10-12 year olds would rate their health as excellent compared to 15-16 year olds (26% vs. 37%)

Change in Personal Health Over Past Year

Most youth feel that their health has either stayed the same or improved over the past year:

• Close to half (48%) believe that there has been no change
• 43% say their health is "somewhat better" (31%) or "much better" (12%)
• 8% see their health as being "somewhat worse" (7%) or "a lot worse" (1%)

The most prominent reason children give for being in better health is that they're "getting more exercise".

• Half of the all youth interviewed mentioned "getting more exercise" as a reason for being in better health.
• "Eating better" is also seen as an essential contributing factor for improved health, though far fewer children raise this as a reason (26%).
• Other reasons included: proper medical treatment (4%); getting more sleep (2%); lost weight (2%).

There are some regional and demographic differences in the reasons given for being in better health:

• Getting more exercise:
• Lower Mainland youth are much more likely to attribute exercise as a cause of improved health than those in the South Interior (55% vs. 37%).
• Eating better:
• 33% of girls saw eating better as a reason for better health vs. 21% of boys.
• 32% of 10-12 year olds believe eating better improved their health vs. 19% of 15-16 year olds who believed the same thing.
• 37% of children with household incomes of less than $40K vs. 22% of children making more than $40K

Personal Health Activity & Experiences

BC children do not all think about their health to the same degree:

• A third (33%) think about their health "some of the time"
• Roughly another third (35%) think about their health "a lot" (9%) or "a fair amount" (29%)
• And, another third (31%) think about their health either "once in a while" (20%) or "almost never" (11%).

There are some important population subgroup differences:

• Gender: 44% of girls think about their health either a lot or a fair amount vs. 28% of boys who do the same.
• Age differences included: 34% of 15-16 year olds think about their health a fair amount vs. 23% of children aged 10-14.

BC young people engage in a variety of different health-related activities, and to different degree. Those they do "always" or "most of the time" includes:

• Get regular exercise - 68%
• Try to keep a positive attitude - 59%
• Get enough sleep - 59%
• Watch what you eat - 41%
• Watch what you drink - 38%
• Watch how much you eat - 36%
• Take vitamins - 24%

When asked about the top challenges they face in trying to stay healthy, the top reasons given included:

• Diet-related activities - eating healthy (22%), not eat junk food (21%), eat less (3%), drink enough water (2%)
• Exercise - 15%
• Get enough sleep - 8%
• Not watch too much TV - 1%
• Don't know - 19%

Health experiences BC children have had since January 2007 included:

• Stayed home from school because sick - 73%
• Gone to doctor to find out what was wrong - 44%
• Had to take medicine given by doctor - 35%
• Gone to hospital emergency department - 13%
• Had serious health problem - 9%
• Been seriously injured - 5%
• Stayed overnight in hospital - 2%

Health-related experiences or activities tend vary by age:

• More 15-16 year olds had to take prescription medicine than 10-14 year olds (42% vs. 33%)
• More 13-16 year olds had to go to the hospital emergency department than 10-12 year olds (16% vs. 9%)

Some gender differences also surfaced:

• 78% of girls had to stay home from school sick this year vs. 70% of boys
• 39% of girls took prescription medicine vs. 32% of boys

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Daniel Savas
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
(778) 373-5004
[email protected]

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