From The Jerusalem Post Thursday, February 17 2000 08:47 11 Adar I 5760

Survey: Israeli youth unhappy, unhealthy

By Judy Siegel

JERUSALEM (February 17) - Israeli youth are the least happy compared to counterparts in 27 other countries in Europe and North America, according to the World Health Organization's latest cross-national comparison of "Health Behavior in School-aged Children" (HBSC).

In the 135-page document, available on the WHO Web site (www.who.int/dsa/justpub/justpub.htm), Israeli society has received an unsatisfactory grade for its efforts to promote health and healthy behaviors among its youth.

In addition, a representative sample of over 5,000 Israeli children aged 11, 13, and 15 came out bottom of the list in many unhealthy behaviors.

In an examination of how pupils felt in general about their lives, "the least happy... are those from Israel (only 62% reported feeling "very happy" or "quite happy"), while the most positive feelings came from youth in Scandinavia (over 92%), Switzerland, Austria, England, Flemish-speaking Belgium, Northern Ireland, Germany, and Ireland.

Israelis also had the highest rates of "feeling low" (more than two-fifths), compared to minimal rates in Austria, Portugal, and Greenland. Israeli kids complained about "loneliness" at a rate much higher than those in all other countries, except for Portugal.

Youth here were also much more likely to eat junk food, get little exercise, watch too much TV, observe poor dental hygiene, take pills for nervousness, drink beer at a young age, eat sweets, feel the need for a diet, and smoke.

However, on the other hand, they were less likely to get drunk, feel estranged from their parents, and have sex without a condom than their counterparts in the Europe and North America.

Asked to comment, Dr. Alex Levinthal, the director of the Health Ministry's public health department, was unaware that the report had been issued and had not read it.

He said he would read it carefully when the head of the Israeli team that surveyed local youths publishes its Hebrew-language report in a few months.

Nevertheless, having read the previous HBSC comparison study issued four years ago, Levinthal said the new document might be inaccurate, because "studies we know of show Israeli youths are different than in other countries. They exaggerate when asked about their behavior; when asked how many beers they drink, they'll say double the real figure. The data must be verified by other means to show it is accurate."

He added that haredi children are not included in Israeli surveys for the HBSC, but only those going to Jewish state secular and state religious school and Arabs.

However, Dr. Yossi Harel, head of Bar-Ilan University's sociology department who headed the Israeli HBSC team, dismissed these arguments. "It is not true that Israeli kids are any different in their self reporting on behaviors. Studies have not shown that they answer in a different way than their counterparts in other countries."

Noting that Israeli society has "neglected the well-being of its youth for years," he called for urgent national programs to promote health among teenagers.

Harel's own in-depth team report, sponsored by the Health and Education ministries and summarizing the findings of surveys of 2,423 Israeli boys and 2,631 girls aged 11, 13, and 15 in May 1998, will be issued soon, with analyses of local teenagers and comparing them to the WHO results in the 27 other countries.

According to the WHO study, pupils in "Israel and the US report the highest frequency of health-related problems and symptoms. Of nine pain and negative-feeling symptoms, Israel has the highest percentages for five variables and is among the top four for all of the others, except tiredness in the morning."

Israel headed the list of countries in which pupils live with both their parents and did very well in the ability to talk to their fathers, although less well in talking to their mothers.

They were more likely than others to find it easy to make friends at school, and spend time with friends after school - but they were at the top in complaining that they are "treated too strictly at school." Israeli pupils were also much more likely than most of the others to complain that their parents and teachers expect too much of them at school.

Exercising twice a week was much less frequent among Israelis (in the bottom half of the chart), while they were No. 2 or 3 (depending on age) in watching TV four hours or more a day. They eat less fruit every day and much more chips or fried potatoes than desirable.

Anywhere from 68% to 79% of Israeli youths said they drink soft drinks every day, while few admitted to drinking low-fat milk. Only 69%-71% of Israeli youths said they brushed their teeth more than once a day.

Asked about their sexual behavior, 44% of the Israeli 15-year-old non-religious Jewish boys and 11% of non-religious Jewish girls reported having had sex.

The mean age of sexual initiation was 15.53 years for girls and 14.55 for boys; however, 76% of secular boys and 83% of secular girls having sex reported condom use during intercourse.

© The Jerusalem Post 2000