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School Health Promotion Study

School Health Promotion Study

The aim of the School Health Promotion (SHP) Study is to strengthen the planning and evaluation of health promotion activities at the municipality and school levels. While the National Institute for Health and Welfare takes care of the data collection and reporting, the responsibility for the interpretation and practical use of data lies with municipalities and schools. The main emphasis is on rapid processing and reporting of the data and further encouraging the municipalities and schools to actively use the knowledge based on the collected data for the purposes of planning and evaluating health promotion.

Besides the local interests, the School Health Promotion Study also serves national interests. The data are used as material for more detailed studies and, combined with other statistics, for studying the changes in the regional differences in adolescent health and well-being.

Data collection

The data is gathered by an anonymous classroom questionnaire in all 8th and 9th grades of secondary schools and 1st and 2nd grades of upper secondary ja vocational schools. The age range of the respondents is 14 to 20 years.

About 90% of the municipalities join in the School Health Promotion (SHP) Study:

  • even-numbered years: Southern Finland, Eastern Finland and Lapland
  • odd-numbered years: Western Finland, Northern Finland and Åland
  • 192 414 respondents in 2010/2011: 80% of all pupils in secondary schools and 73% of all students in upper secondary schools in Finland. The response-rate in vocational schools cannot be realiably estimated.

The questionnaire covers:

  • health-related behaviour: e.g. nutrition, smoking, use of alcohol and drugs, sexual behaviour, food habits, exercise
  • health: e.g. diseases and symptoms, depressive mood
  • school as working environment, bullying
  • living conditions, physical threat, lack of friends
  • student welfare services: e.g. school health services, support in case of difficulties in learning.

Contact information:
Researcher Riikka Puusniekka
tel. + 358 20 610 7186, e-mail firstname.lastname@thl.fi

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Published 12.2.2006, Updated 19.9.2011

Last updated 19.9.2011
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National Institute for Health and Welfare - P.O. Box 30, FI-00271 Helsinki, Finland - Map- Tel. +358 20 610 6000, Fax +358 9 761 307, E-mail firstname.lastname@thl.fi