A snapshot of the health of young people in Europe : a report prepared for the European Union Conference on Youth Health, Brussels, Belgium 9-10 July 2009

This report has been prepared by the WHO Regional Office for Europe to support the European Commission conference, Youth health initiative: be healthy, be yourself, held in Brussels, Belgium on 9 and 10 July 2009. The report offers a “snapshot” of the health of young people in Europe with data drawn from an extensive range of sources, but in particular the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey report. The HBSC Survey covers health behaviours of 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds; data on 16-25-year-olds, who are the main focus of the European Commission Conference on Youth and Health, are more difficult to find. This snapshot report nevertheless presents valid and informative data on a wide range of health issues that are important to young people, including injuries and accidents, mental health, overweight and obesity, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, substance misuse and sexual health.