Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jan 2016
Source: Brampton Guardian (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Brampton Guardian
Contact:  http://www.bramptonguardian.com/brampton-on/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1485
Author: Roger Belgrave

SURVEY SUGGESTS MORE PEEL YOUTH DRIVE STONED THAN DRUNK

Data from a recent survey by Peel's health services department 
suggests more youth are using illicit drugs than lighting up 
cigarettes and young drivers may be more likely to get behind the 
wheel of a car stoned than drunk.

The data comes from results of a 2013 survey conducted by the Centre 
for Addiction and Mental Health.

Findings were presented to Peel Region council earlier this month.

The Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey is conducted every two 
years in communities across the province.

For the first time in 2013, a sizable number of Grade 7 to 12 
students in Peel were included in the data collection. The 
municipality paid about $36,000 to have a significant Peel sample 
size included in the provincial survey.

At the time of the survey, about six per cent of students reported 
smoking a cigarette, but approximately 10 per cent smoked a water 
pipe or e-cigarette at least once in the past year.

A much higher proportion, 38 per cent, reported using illicit or 
prescription drugs without a prescription in the past year.

Eight per cent of Grade 10 to 12 students reported driving within one 
hour of smoking marijuana, while just three per cent said they got 
behind the wheel of a car shortly after consuming alcohol.

That said, when compared to the province as a whole, Peel youth are 
actually engaging in negative health behavior less often than other 
children and young people in Ontario, the survey findings suggested.

But while some results of the survey may not be surprising, according 
to Medical Officer of Health Eileen de Villa, there is cause for concern.

"Hearing about kids driving vehicles with alcohol in their systems or 
illicit drugs in their system is clearly concerning," said de Villa.

The Region has access to other data sources, but the sample size of 
this particular survey provides an in-depth glimpse of the health 
issues and health-related behaviour of the region's youth, she explained.

"It allows us then to do more in-depth analysis," she said. Results 
from that detailed analysis can be used to identify local health 
needs and help determine policy and programs to address those needs, 
de Villa suggested.

Other highlights reveal eight per cent of students surveyed showed 
signs of harmful drinking habits and one-in-five had been a passenger 
in a vehicle driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol.

About 24 per cent of Peel students surveyed were overweight or obese 
and 51 per cent of them did not participate in physical activity at school.

Approximately two-thirds of students in this age group spent more 
than two hours a day playing video games or engaged in other 
recreational screen time.

When the survey was taken, about one-in-four students would have been 
classified as having moderate to high levels of psychological 
distress in the past month and 12 per cent had seriously considered suicide.

Results from this round of the survey will be accessible on the 
Region's website.

The health data collected from this and other sources is also made 
available to other stakeholders in the community, such as hospitals, 
school boards, doctors, health agencies and human services 
departments at the Region.

The Region also participated in the 2015 Ontario Student Drug Use and 
Health Survey. Those results will be released to the public later this year.

Last year the Region spent $67,000 on health data purchases from 
various sources.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom