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Health Risks and Disparities Experienced by Hispanic
Youth
Health Risk Behaviors Among Hispanic High School Students
Most of the leading causes of illness and premature
death among both Hispanic adults and youth are caused by health behaviors
typically established during childhood and adolescence including
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Behaviors that contribute to injury and violence.
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Sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection.
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Alcohol and other drug use.
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Unhealthy dietary behaviors and inadequate physical
activity.
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Tobacco use.
CDC’s National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) monitors these behaviors
every 2 years among representative samples of 9th through 12th
grade students in public and private schools throughout the United States.1
The following tables highlight data from the 2007 National YRBS that
provide estimates of the percentages of Hispanic, black, and white high
school students who engaged in specific health risk behaviors. The only
behaviors listed are those which Hispanic students are significantly more
likely or significantly less likely to engage in, compared with either white
or black students or both. Percentages for black or white students noted in
gray are not significantly different from percentages for Hispanic students
for that behavior.
Injury and Violence, including
Attempted Suicide
Sexual Risk Behaviors
Alcohol and Other Drug Use
Obesity and Unhealthy Dietary Behaviors
Physical Activity
Tobacco Use
Statistical tests are performed to determine if differences are
significant or not; when percentages are significantly different, it means
that the differences between the groups most likely reflect true differences
in the populations and are not due to the sampling process. Data on the
percentage of Hispanic students who engaged in all the other risk behaviors
measured can be found in the complete report of the
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United
States, 2007.1
References
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Eaton DK, Kann L, Kinchen S, et. al. Youth risk behavior surveillance.
MMWR 2007;57(SS-4):1-131. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/yrbs. Accessed on May
13, 2008.
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