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Skolebørnsundersøgelsen (The Danish School Health Survey)

Skolebørnsundersøgelsen is the Danish contribution to the international survey The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study (HBSC). HBSC is conducted in more than 40 countries in Europe and North America. Skolebørnsundersøgelsen is conducted every fourth year where questionnaire data are collected among students in grade five, seven and nine. In Denmark, the survey has been conducted nine times since the mid 1980’ties and data will be collected for the tenth time in February/March 2018.

Purpose

The aims of Skolebørnsundersøgelsen are to monitor and analyse the health, well-being and health behaviours of Danish students. The survey focusses on the following themes:

Health: Chronic conditions, injuries, height/weight, symptom load, self-rated health, mental health and general life satisfaction.

Health behaviours: Food and meal habits, weight regulation, tooth brushing, alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use and sexual behaviours. The 2018 questionnaire survey is supplemented with collection of objective accelerometer data on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Therefore the 2018 questionnaire has a special focus on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. The supplementary collection of objective data for physical activity and sedentary behavior is conducted in collaboration with the Danish Health Authorities.

Social context: School environment, social relations with families and friends – including bullying, socioeconomic background, family structure and origin.

Method

Skolebørnsundersøgelsen are conducted according to terms stated in the international HBSC research protocol on sampling, study population, data collection, data management, data use and publishing.

Every survey round includes a nationally representative sample of 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds (in Denmark corresponding to grade five, seven and nine) based on a random sample of schools. The study population includes approximately 5.000 students. The students complete the internationally standardized HBSC questionnaire at school. In the HBSC network, the questionnaire is continuously developed and validated.

Period of project

Following each survey round the Danish results are presented in a national report. Beyond presenting current prevalence levels of selected indicators of child and adolescent health, well-being and health behaviours the report also describes trends over time.

For each survey round also an international report is published in which results are presented across the many participating countries.

Previous national and international reports are available at www.hbsc.dk and HBSC.org.

Collaborations and funding provider

Skolebørnsundersøgelsen is managed by The Danish HBSC Steering Committee. The committee decides on central issues related to the survey – including data collections, financing, hosting, data access, scientific use of data, scientific developments, membership of the Steering Committee, collaborations with external partners and collaborations with the international HBSC network.

For the 2018 survey, Skolebørnsundersøgelsen collaborates with the Danish Health Authorities on the supplementary collection of objective accelerometer data on physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

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Last Updated 19.10.2023