10 Mar CRDG Contributes to Understanding of School Health Issues
CRDG has continued its commitment to working with the Hawai‘i Departments of Education and Health to monitor health risk behaviors among Hawai‘i’s student population. Known collectively as the Hawai‘i School Health Surveys, the 2005 versions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS), with Hawai‘i-specific modifications, were conducted in twenty-three middle and twenty-three high schools in Hawai‘i. This marks the third YTS and the seventh YRBS CRDG has conducted. The results of the ongoing studies are used in a variety of ways by the Departments of Education and Health, the University of Hawai‘i, and other agencies. These include identifying focus areas for curriculum development and teacher training, and for prevention and treatment efforts and resources. Other uses include identifying risk behaviors of Hawai‘i public school students in grades six through twelve, informing health and safety curricula, program planning by the Department of Health and organizations, and applying for grants to address identified risky behaviors.