HBSC: International Research Study of Health Behavior in School-Aged Children
Responsibility
Prof. Candace Currie, Ph.D.
Responsibility on behalf of the Czech Republic
Mgr. Michal Kalman
Research team from the Center for Kinanthropology Research
Doc. Andrea Madarasová Gecková, PhD.; doc. Mgr. Erik Sigmund, Ph.D; Mgr. Ferdinand
Salonna, PhD.; Mgr. Dagmar Sigmundová, Ph.D.
Financial support for the Czech Republic
European Social Fund, Education for Competitiveness (CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0171)
Duration of the project
Czech Republic since 1994, repeated every 4 years
Aims
HBSC focuses on understanding young people's health in their social context – where they live, at school, with family and friends. Researchers in the HBSC network are interested in understanding how these factors, individually and together, influence young people's health as they move from childhood into young adulthood. The aim of the project in 2010 was to continue participation in the collaborative study since 1994, gaining new knowledge about the behavior of school-aged children and link new data with existing reports from the years 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006, which were taken on a representative set of 11, 13 and 15 aged children in the Czech Republic.
Realization
For all participating countries, a standardized research protocol providing a theoretical framework for the research topics, data collection and analysis procedures is developed. The HBSC Research Network members collaborate on the production of this international Research Protocol for each four-yearly survey. HBSC is a school-based study. Data are collected through self-completion standardized questionnaires administered in the classroom, responded by 11, 13, and 15 years old children. The recommended sample size for each of the free age groups is approximately 1,500 students. The core questions provide information on: demographic factors (e. g., age and state of maturation); social background (e. g., family structure and socio-economic status); social context (e. g., family, peer culture, school environment); health outcomes (e. g., self-rated health, injuries, overweight and obesity); health behaviours (e. g., eating and dieting, physical activity and weight reduction behaviour); and risk behaviours (e. g., smoking, alcohol use, cannabis use, sexual behaviour, bullying). The research takes place repeatedly every four years which allows to obtain relevant, comparable data suitable for policy and action, particularly in the field of public health.
