Chinese National Youth Health Behaviour Survey

Valid and reliable information about the social epidemiology and determinants of health behaviours, victimisation and the health outcomes of Chinese youth is vital for the development of evidence-based policy and interventions aimed at improving the lives of Chinese children.

In 2010, the China Youth University of Political Studies (CYUS) in Beijing, in collaboration with Bar Ilan University in Israel, developed and implemented the 1st Chinese National Youth Health Behaviour Survey (C-YHBS) based on the HBSC survey, and piloted the instrument on representative samples of over 22,000 11, 13 and 15 year-old school children in 16 provinces + the district of Hong Kong. In 2018 the C-YHBS was conducted in a nationally representative sample from all 34 Chinese provinces, including Hong Kong.

In 2018 the C-YHBS was conducted in a nationally representative sample from all 34 Chinese provinces, including Hong Kong.

The main topics of focus include:

• Impact of social environments on children’s lives.
• Influence of social stratification and national policy on children’s health and well-being in China.
• Disadvantaged sub-populations such as poor children, left behind children, migrant children, etc.
• Mental and physical health including nutrition and eating habits.
• School experiences and measures of school disconnectedness.
• Cyberbullying.
• Injuries (unintentional and intentional).
• Addictive behaviours – including internet addiction.
• Daily leisure time activities and involvement in physical activity and sedentary behaviours.

The expected outcomes of the C-YHBS survey are:

• Development of evidence-based policy.
• New innovative research on adolescent health and well-being.
• Identify high-priority issues in adolescent health in China, and provide the scientific evidence needed to develop and improve policy and programmes.
• Provide valid, reliable and current information to adolescent health and education professionals in China.
• Develop and evaluate new intervention approaches.
• Learn from the success of other countries and promote the sharing of scientific knowledge.
• Participation in International scientific sharing.
• Inspire young researchers to focus on youth health promotion research.