A fascinating and slightly sobering survey was released this week, analysing current students’ health, and suggesting areas that might need a little more care or support. This survey didn’t just ask about mental health for once, it also covered sex, drugs, teeth… and a whole host of other important areas, including sleep.
The results certainly made me (as President of the Student Health Association, and a former university GP) think hard about what we need to do to improve our support of the next generation, but perhaps it made me think even harder as a mum of a teenage lad, who in only a few years will need to take care of all this stuff himself, of course!
So what do I as a parent, and you, as parents, carers, teachers and in other vital roles working with teens, need to know?
General health
First up was the fairly concerning statistic that ‘only 20 per cent of students rate their health as “very good” compared to 48 per cent of the general population’.
Drilling down into their answers it transpires that this is mainly because many students rate their mental health poorly, and academic pressure compounds those issues, whereas their physical health is often seen as less of a worry.
Registered for care?
However, when they are asked in more detail about their physical health it does get interesting. We will come to that, but importantly 93% of surveyed students said they were registered with a ‘doctor or GP’, although a third of the students had had difficulty accessing a GP when they needed to. Unfortunately, only 65% of those surveyed were registered with a GP in their place of study, which potentially leaves them vulnerable for urgent primary care e.g. acute physical illness, mental health crisis, sexual health/ contraceptive emergencies, but at least most of them were registered somewhere.
Grit your teeth?
More worrying was the fact that only 60% were registered with a dentist (either in the UK or abroad), when dental care is so important, and as I have said before in a blog, Dental Health is Mental Health! Fortunately, 56% of the students surveyed had had a dental check up in the last year, which isn’t too bad, I guess.
Drink and drugs? Not as much as we assume to be honest!
More than half the students ‘rarely or never’ drank alcohol (1 in 4 said ‘never’), and when they did drink it was in moderation for most, with 75% having 4 or fewer drinks on a day when they drank.
The response to drug use was fascinating, if I am honest- 90% said ‘no’ when asked ‘if in the last 30 days they had used illegal drugs or misused drugs for recreational purposes’. The survey was done in January/ February 2025, so not festival season but still… great news if reflective of the general student approach to drugs!
Yawn!
On sleep, which as you may recall is one of my favourite topics in terms of teen health and wellbeing, the news was less good. Less that a third were getting 8 or more hours a night (which would be recommended for most of the students surveyed as they were largely under 25), and half were getting only 6-7 hours. Some were getting less, very few were getting more, so there is real room for improvement there. Especially as over 50% said the quality of what sleep they did get was 'neither good nor poor', or 'poor'.
Getting active, eating well?
They are generally more active than the general population, which is great, and this may help them to sleep better if we can encourage being active, as well as exercise providing fantastic mental health benefits of course.
Sadly though almost half of the students surveyed showed signs of disordered eating or body issues, when asked via a validated eating issues research questionnaire, but these results were about the same as for the general population (which isn’t great obviously, but doesn’t suggest students have a specific issue with this).
Sex talk?
On the always lively topic of sex and students, there was some reassuring news with increasing numbers since the previous survey understanding consent, being confident about communication of consent, and on issues relating to consent/ alcohol intake. In fact the main worrying finding unearthed in this bit of the survey was the lower number who knew where and how to access NHS sexual health services.
So what can I do as a parent/ carer/ teacher?
Well, without wishing to read too much into a (reliable) survey of just over a 1000 students, albeit from all over the UK, and pretty representative of students everywhere, here are my key take home points to communicate to my young person;
1. Encourage my teen to register with a GP on arrival at college/ university or in a new location.
2. Have an annual (minimum) dental check-up as an adult.
3. Make good decisions about alcohol, remind him that many students drink rarely or never, and that if he wants to be conservative in his approach to alcohol, he certainly won’t be alone (normalise minimal drinking/ teetotalism as a choice).
4. Don’t do drugs, again you will be in the majority in many environments.
5. Get 8+ hours sleep a night wherever possible. Prioritise sleep to do better at work, sport, life…
6. Stay active, try new activities/ sports, don’t get bored or in a rut with exercise, mix it up!
7. If food/ body issues are a worry, seek help- the earlier the better. Talk to a professional, e.g. a GP, psychologist or counsellor. Don’t ignore these issues, they rarely go away on their own.
8. Don’t ignore mental health worries, stress, and low mood. Talk to someone who cares about you, look for proper support at college or university, or in your workplace, or via your GP or NHS Talking Therapies website. You’re not alone.
9. Understand sexual consent, talk about tricky topics with people you trust, role model healthy approaches to consent and safe practices, and self-care.
10. Know where to get free sexual health advice, condoms, contraception and STI testing – make this normal and part of general health care. Services are provided via local GP practices, student health services, via the NHS website, or local pharmacies.
In summary
There are clear areas of healthcare that we can talk to our teens about - both at home and at school. We can make real improvements, and a huge difference to their lives and health, via practical messages and honest discussion. None of these topics are out of our reach, and with consistent, positive and supportive conversations, we should be able to significantly improve the number of students and young people who rate their health as “very good” when asked, in surveys of the future. Good luck!