Research for the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (2022) Collaborative Study

Tender description

The Health Behaviours in School-Aged Children Study is an international survey conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe. HBSC runs on a four-year cycle; in 2017-2018, 47 countries and regions participated. The aim of this survey is to collect comparable data from school-aged children using an internationally agreed protocol. The selected age groups – 8 – 18-year olds – represent age groups from middle childhood through the onset of adolescence (the time when young people face the challenges of physical and emotional changes in addition to the transition between primary and secondary school) to their final years in school, when they start to consider important life and career decisions. Ireland has been a member of the WHO-HBSC Network since 1994, taking part in Surveys in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and, most recently, 2018. The 2018 study surveyed 15,557 children aged between 8-18 years of age, drawn from a representative sample of 255 primary and post-primary schools across the country, via an anonymous self-completion questionnaire. HBSC has been funded by the Department of Health since Ireland joined the HBSC Network. The reports from previous waves of HBSC are available through the NUIG website: http://www.nuigalway.ie/hbsc/ HBSC Ireland provides a unique source of internationally comparable data, enabling the tracking of key health trends in comparison with those in other countries, monitoring the impact of policy change and informing strategic direction.