MORE STUDENTS ARE STAYING AWAY FROM ALCOHOL, DRUGS, AND SEX

Fewer B.C. students are drinking, smoking, using drugs and having sex,
but the provincial government is concerned about obesity, sexually
transmitted infections, anxiety disorders and cyberbullying.

Provincial health officer Perry Kendall delivered the message last
Friday at Burnaby's Alpha Secondary school. The information was from a
partially updated version of a 2003 report that looks at student health.

Youth who reported never smoking rose from 78 per cent in 2000 to 86
per cent in 2006. Youth reporting alcohol use has dropped from 65 per
cent in 1992 to 57 per cent in 2003.

Marijuana use was up from 25 per cent in 1992 to 37 per cent in 2003.
Use of other drugs, such as mushrooms, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin,
was down from 1998 to 2003.

According to 2003 data, students are having less sex and using more
birth control, but sexually transmitted infections increased from 2001
to 2006. Kendall attributed the overall rise to young women using the
birth control pill - when they go in for the pill, they get screened
for sexually transmitted infections, so there may be a rise in
reporting infections, not actual incidence. In 2006, young women
reported contracting sexually transmitted infections from
one-and-a-half to five times more than their male counterparts.

The percentage of obese and overweight students grew slightly. In
2003, four per cent of students were obese and 14 per cent were
overweight - that's up two per cent for both categories from 1992.
Cutting down on obesity is also about saving the government money.
According to Kendall's report, obesity costs the national health-care
system an estimated $1.6 billion annually.

In 2002, there were 41,600 British Columbian children aged five to 17
with anxiety disorders, about 6.4 per cent of the population, but the
report did not include any updated or comparative data. Slightly fewer
students report being bullied at school over the past six years. In
2006, about one in 10 students reported being cyberbullied.

For a copy of the report, visit www.health.gov.bc.ca/pho/.