2007 Ohio Youth Behavioral Risk Survey results released

The Ohio Department of Health released the results of the 2007 Ohio Youth Behavioral Risk Survey on May 29th (Source: "Survey: More Ohio teens behaving in healthy ways," Dayton Daily News, May 29, 2008).  This project involved responses from 2,527 students in 101 high schools.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, the 2007 survey findings include:

• 90 percent of teens report they did not drink and drive in the past month.

• 78 percent report they did not smoke cigarettes in the past month.

• 68 percent report seeing a doctor for a checkup in the past year.

• 34 percent report using marijuana at least once during their lives.

• 29 percent report binge drinking.

• 59 percent report spending at least one hour a month doing volunteer work.

The survey's responses did show improvement on several behaviors since the last survey in 2005. Risky behaviors that show improvement include not using a seat belt, physical fighting in schools, suicide attempts and alcohol, tobacco and illegal drug use.

At the same time, it shows that several risky behaviors had increased since the last survey.  These behaviors include drinking and driving, binge drinking and sniffing glue and other chemicals.  The survey also finds that Ohio's youth are not consuming enough milk, fruits, and vegetables.