14/12/2004 - Cumbrian boys too bashful

Teenage boys in Cumbria are proving too reluctant or too shy to take part an important health survey.

Hundreds of 11 to 19-year-olds in the county have already completed Cumbria County Council's on-line teenage health survey - Your Health Your Say.

But 85 per cent of the questionnaires completed so far have come from girls and more boys are needed to give the county council’s Health and Well-being Scrutiny committee a clearer picture of teenage health and lifestyle issues.

The importance of the teenage health survey was driven home recently when a study by the Centre for Public Health at John Moore's University in Liverpool found an alarming increase in sexually transmitted diseases in Cumbria and the rest of Britain.

The British Medical Association has also warned of a "potential public health time-bomb" caused by the unhealthy lifestyles lived by many young people.

The information gathered in the Cumbrian survey will help the Health and Well-being scrutiny committee more effectively target the teenage health services offered by the county council and other organisations. 

Initial findings emerging from YourHealthYourSay show that sexual health, weight, appearance and stress are among the main concerns for Cumbria's youth. 

Committee chairman Peter Farmer said: "This is such an important survey we need to hear the opinions of as many young men and women as possible. At this point we particularly need to hear the views of young men.

"Teenagers may not need the services provided for them at the moment, but who's to say they won't need them at some point in the future. By taking the time to complete the survey now, they could be helping themselves and their friends in the long run."

Teenagers who complete the survey can enter a prize draw for the chance to win an adventure day from Cumbria Outdoors for themselves and five friends.

The on-line survey takes only ten minutes to complete and can be seen at www.yourhealthyoursay.org.uk