A WHO-project on health in the adolescent population is now giving researchers access to data collected in 41 countries worldwide

A WHO-project on health in the adolescent population is now giving researchers access to data collected in 41 countries worldwide. The data gives insight on matters concerning health, well-being, social environment and health related behaviour of 11, 13 and 15 year old boys and girls.

The "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children. A WHO collaborative Cross-national study", HBSC, http://www. hbsc. org , is a key deliverer of national and international policy level data for adolescent health. Currently 44 countries are involved in the study. Every four years nationally representative data from 11, 13 and 15 year olds are collected in an ever increasing number of countries.

Following each survey results from these data are presented in an international report co-published with the World Health Organization. The next international report is scheduled to be released on 15 March 2016. More than 500 international and numerous national papers have been published to date based on the data.

The HBSC project is now providing open access to its 2006 dataset for external researchers, educators and policy makers to increase the impact of adolescent health research. Although some years old, this data set is still relevant and important for understanding how gender, age and socio-economic status impact on health behaviours and how relations within the family, among peers and at school influence adolescents' health perceptions, health complaints and life satisfaction. There is much more potential for additional papers and theses to be explored from these data, over and above that already published.

At the end of June 2016, HBSC data from 2002 and 2010 will also be made available through open access.

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