November 19
th is
International Men’s Day 2015,
aimed at raising awareness of men’s health and wellbeing, promoting male role
models and celebrating men’s positive contributions, highlighting male
discrimination and promoting gender equality. The UK theme for 2015 is
“Make a Difference for Men and Boys”;
identifying what action needs to be taken to address issues. How can we make a
difference to the lives of men and boys across the world?
The latest data from
HBSC England1 is drawn from a large representative sample across England, encompassing girls
and boys aged between 11 – 15 years from varying social backgrounds,
ethnicities and religions. Consequently the HBSC England data provides a
comprehensive picture of the lives of young boys living in England today; allowing
us to identify both aspects of physical health and emotional and social
wellbeing in which boys are flourishing, and also areas of concern.
Since 2002 a decline in traditional risk behaviours such as
drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, cannabis use and fighting have all been
noted among adolescents. Today only a small minority (6%) of 15 year old boys
report smoking on a weekly basis, falling from 28% in 2002. Likewise, the
prevalence of weekly drinking among 15 year old boys has reduced sharply from
52% in 2002 to 12% in 2014. Similar reductions in substance use have been noted
elsewhere; in 2014 the Health and Social Care Information Centre2
reported the lowest rates of smoking and alcohol consumption among teenage boys
since their research began in 1988, while the HBSC Scotland team3
recorded the fewest instances of drunkenness among 15 year old boys since 1990.
Fighting is typically viewed as a male behaviour, but although more boys than
girls still report being involved in fighting, the gender gap is narrowing due
to a steady decline in the number of young boys who said they have been involved
in a physical fight (Figure 1). This is a trend which Pickett and colleagues4
identified to be occurring on an international level.
Figure 1: Proportion of boys aged 11-15 years who reported being in two or more physical fights during the previous year (adapted from Brooks et al. 2015)
While the number of young boys engaging in traditional risk
behaviours appears to be improving, the same cannot be said about healthy
behaviours. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends young people participate
in at least 1 hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. The
latest HBSC England data identified less than a quarter (22%) of all boys
surveyed met the recommended levels of physical activity. Moreover, the
proportion of boys who are physically active for an hour every day has decreased
by 6 percentage points from 2010, and is now at the lowest it has been since
2002. Similarly, fewer than half of boys reported eating fruit and vegetables
every day, with no substantial changes since 2006. Sleep is a new topic for
HBSC England, but the latest data suggest that this is an area of concern -
only 48% of 15 year old boys reported achieving 8.5 hours sleep and nearly a
third said they are unable to concentrate at school due to a lack of
sleep.
Adolescent boys are often reported to fare better in terms
of health and well-being than their female peers, but there are particular
areas where men are known to be at greater risk. An integral part of
International Men’s Day is raising awareness of male suicide: Men are
three times more likely to commit suicide than women,
and the last five years has seen a 40% increase in suicides among men aged
45-49 years
5. Despite these figures, men are less likely to be
diagnosed with depression than women
6. The HBSC England data
contributes to challenging the gender stereotype surrounding emotional
wellbeing, and adds to the call for action regarding young boys’ mental health.
A substantial proportion of young boys reported poor emotional wellbeing (Table
1), with a quarter of 15 year old boys feeling low once a week and nearly a
third feeling nervous on a weekly basis. Further, one of the most commonly
reported health complaints among 15 year old boys, feeling irritable, is
recognised as one of the markers of depression in men
6. Boys’
self-reported life satisfaction is a concern, with 21% of boys reporting they
are “struggling” or “suffering” and a dramatic decrease in life satisfaction among
15 year old boys in the last 4 years. In line with decreases in emotional
wellbeing, 11% of 15 year old boys reported self-harming in 2014 compared with
3.2% in a comparable survey-based study conducted in 2002
7.
Table 1:
Proportion of boys who reported experiencing health complaints and emotions
during the past week (adapted from Brooks et al. 2015)
|
11 year olds
|
13 year olds
|
15 year olds
|
All ages
|
Feeling low
|
14%
|
15%
|
25%
|
18%
|
Feeling nervous
|
22%
|
25%
|
29%
|
25%
|
Feeling irritable
|
26%
|
32%
|
41%
|
32%
|
Sleeping difficulties
|
29%
|
28%
|
30%
|
29%
|
Felt full of energy
|
67%
|
55%
|
44%
|
57%
|
Felt able to pay attention
|
76%
|
65%
|
54%
|
66%
|
There is much focus on the emotional well-being of girls and
young women, but while highlighting such issues is necessary it is equally
important that we do not forget about boys and young men in the process. The
idea that males are ‘doing fine’ just because they report a lower prevalence of
risk factors than young women could marginalise boys’ emotional well-being
needs. The HBSC England data provides an insight into the lives of adolescent
boys in England today, and the temporal nature of the study allows us to make
comparisons spanning over a decade. The data indicates positive behavioural
changes including a decline in substance use and fighting which are worthy of
celebration. However, in keeping with the theme of International Men’s Day: How
can we make a difference to the lives of boys? The HBSC England data suggests
we move away from traditional, masculine risk behaviours and begin to address
healthy behaviours and emotional wellbeing. The majority of boys are not
engaging with healthy behaviours such as physical activity, and comparisons
across time suggest uptake of these behaviours are at best static, and at worst
in decline. Moreover, we need greater acknowledgement that emotional well-being
is an issue for the teenage boys of England just as it is for girls.
- Brooks, F., Magnusson, J., Klemera, E., Chester,
K., Spender, N. & Smeeton, N. (2015). HBSCEngland National Report: Findings from the 2014 HBSC Study for England.
Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire.
- Health and Social Care Information Centre
(2015). Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England 2014.
Leeds: HSCIC
- Currie C, Van der Sluijs, W., Whitehead, R.,
Currie, D., Rhodes, G., Neville, F., Inchley, J. (2015) HBSC 2014 Survey inScotland National Report. Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit (CAHRU),
University of St Andrews
- Pickett, W., Molcho, M., Elgar, F. J., Brooks,
F., de Looze, M., Rathmann, K., … Currie, C. (2013). Trends and socioeconomiccorrelates of adolescent physical fighting in 30 countries. Pediatrics, 131(1),
e18–26
- Equality
and Human Rights Commission. (2015). IsBritain Fairer? The state of equality and human rights 2015.
- Wilkins, D. (2010) Untold problems: A review of the essential issues in the mental healthof men and boys. Men’s Health Forum.
- Hawton, K., Rodham, K., Evans, E., &
Weatherall, R. (2002). Deliberate self harm in adolescents: self report surveyin schools in England. BMJ, 325(7374), 1207-1211
