By Cathy Buffonge

A survey on the health of school youth in the Caribbean has been reported in Cajanus, the journal of the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI). Over 15,000 youngsters between the ages of 10 and 18 were surveyed in schools in nine English speaking Caribbean countries. These were Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, BVI, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica and St Lucia. 61% were girls while 39% were boys,

Cathy Buffonge has lived in Montserrat for nearly 40 years, many of which were spent in the health field. She has written extensively on the volcanic experience in Montserrat, as well as on social, cultural and other Montserrat events, and on Caribbean health issues.

On the positive side, the majority of the young people viewed their health as good, with many reporting no health problems at all, and the majority saw themselves as generally happy.

On the other hand one in six saw themselves as sad, angry or irritable, with one in six having been physically or sexually abused. One fifth had carried weapons to school during the previous month, while one in six said they did not expect to live beyond 25 years. Several reported themselves or a friend or relative having attempted suicide.

In terms of substance abuse, alcohol was the most commonly used substance, with around 4% of girls and 8% of boys using it at least once a month, followed by marijuana (1.2% of girls and 2.3% of boys). Several reported driving or being driven under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Tobacco use was reported by very few of the young people. The journal points out that the overall reported use of drugs is relatively low.

Around one third of the young people reported having been sexually active. Of these nearly a half said their first sexual experience had been forced, and almost two thirds said they had intercourse before age 13. Of the sexually active young people, only a quarter always used a birth control method. Many of the sexually active reported being worried about getting AIDS, but only just over half had used a condom during their last intercourse.

On the nutritional side, the majority were satisfied with their appearance and their weight, but several, especially in the younger age groups, were using inappropriate methods of losing weight, displaying signs of possible eating disorders.

This is just a small selection of the survey results reported by the journal, but hopefully gives a feel for what the survey was all about. This survey is very timely with the present concern about our youth in the Caribbean and where they are going, and the results should be applicable to the Caricom countries generally, not just those that were surveyed. It is vital that they are put to good use in planning future programmes for youth in the region.

In its conclusion the report in the journal states, “As the first regional study of this breadth, results serve as an information source for designing and implementing strategies aimed at reducing risk and promoting healthy youth development …… Youth need to be viewed as part of the solution, and thus key partners with adults – not merely problems to be fixed.”.

The survey was conducted in 2003 by a team from the University of Minnesota, USA in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Organization (PAHO), and the Ministries of Health of the nine Caribbean countries involved. The survey results were originally reported in the American Journal of Health.