The results for the 2009 Healthy Kids Colorado survey have been released by the State Department of Education. There are some positive findings along with some disturbing trends.
The survey of high school kids found that close to 90% of them reported participating in some form of physical activity days prior to the survey, and more than 60% reported playing on some sort of sports team. That shows a significant increase in activity over the 2005 survey. While that may be good news, there are some less positive findings.
“In Colorado, unfortunately, we see more teens smoking cigarettes on school property than the national average,” says Paula Gumina, program coordinator for Learn and Serve Colorado, “also, a greater percentage of Colorado teens are reporting attempting suicide that resulted in injury – poisoning or overdose – than the national average.”
Gumina says those findings can help schools and youth-oriented programs better serve students, and try to tackle some of these issues. The survey was given to ninth-through-12th graders in 40 randomly selected public schools. The next survey will take place in the 2011-2012 school year.