Skills building seminar: How can data on adolescents’ health behavior contribute to public health policies? Lessons from HBSC
Authors:   Organised by: EHESP French School of Public Health Chair persons: Emmanuelle Godeau - France
Published: November 2019

Adolescents (10-19) are usually thought of as rather healthy and as low users of health care compared with other age groups. Nevertheless, adolescence is a crucial and challenging transitional journey towards adult life, a time when protective health behaviours and the value of a healthy lifestyle can be adopted, or not, depending on complex interactions between determinants and individual factors. Integration of young people’s health in all policies and research agendas is crucial, beyond the health sector, and keeping in mind the needs to reduce health inequalities and to ensure equitable access to services, in a broad Public health perspective.

However, Public health policies targeting young people cannot be fully relevant and efficient if they do not rely on quality data collected among young people, on their health and their health behaviours.

Under the auspices of WHO, the Health behaviour in School-aged children (HBSC) survey collects data among 11-13 and 15 years-old students since 1982, in a growing number of mostly European countries, every 4 years, through anonymous self-completed questionnaires filled in in class, using shared validated instruments and methods.

Our workshop aims at showing how data collected among adolescents, by improving our understanding of their health and health behaviours as well as their determinants and settings, can be used to inform and improve policies at national level. HBSC will be used as an exemple, because of its longevity, breadth, expertise, reputation and uniqueness in the field of adolescent health.

Five contrasted experiences will be presented, illustrating the relevance of linking scientific evidence and policy relevance in a Public health perspective. They have been chosen to offer various perspectives in terms of countries (Ireland, Luxembourg, Israel, UK), topics (well-being, suicide, substance-use, school-health), and levels of links between research and policy.

All presenters are skilled researchers, have a longstanding experience of conducting the HBSC survey and they share a strong interest in linking with policy makers in advocating the improvement of the health and well-being of the adolescents in their country.

Because they all work on the same population (adolescents), and mainly work on the same survey (HBSC), the presentations and debates will start from a common ground, saving space and time to really illustrate how health behaviour data can inform Public health policies. The presenters should give contrasted perspectives, without denying their failures and difficulties, to engage with the audience for a wider discussion, towards a better partnership between research and policy.

Key messages

There are national examples that illustrate that research on adolescents’ health behaviour can inform Public health policy targeted at this specific population and improve its health and well-being. Networking and exchanging on failures and success through case studies can provide perspectives to other teams and countries on how to better build the link between researchers and policy makers.