Fewer U.S. High School Students Engage in Risky Behaviors

"It is alarming that the [survey] documents multiple disparities for Latino youth in America and that few of these disparities have changed since the last survey in 2005," Dr. Glenn Flores, a professor of pediatrics and public health at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Medical Center, in Dallas, said during the teleconference.

While members of all racial and ethnic groups engage in risky health behaviors, the plight of Hispanic students is particularly disturbing, he said.

"Latino youth are more likely to report feeling sad or hopeless, at 36 percent overall and 42 percent in Latino girls," Flores said. "Latino teens have the highest rate of having made a suicide plan and actually attempting suicide."

The survey did find some encouraging trends among Hispanic teens. They were more likely to wear seat belts and use condoms in 2007 than they were in the 1990s. They were also less likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, use drugs such as marijuana and methamphetamines, or ride with a driver who'd been drinking alcohol.

The CDC conducts the survey every two years. In 2007, more than 14,000 high school students participated, drawn from 39 states and 22 urban school districts.

More information

To read the full report, visit the CDC.

SOURCES: June 4, 2008, teleconference with Howell Wechsler, Ed.D., M.P.H., director, Division of Adolescent and School Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; Glenn Flores, M.D., professor of pediatrics and public health, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Children's Medical Center, Dallas; CDC report,2007 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey