Gender, type of education, family background and overweight in adolescents.

Objective: To examine gender-specific socio-educational correlations of overweight in adolescents enrolled in post-mandatory education.

Subjects And Methods: Data were drawn from the Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health, a cross-sectional study conducted on a representative sample of 3439 females and 4109 males aged 16 to 20 and enrolled in either vocational education (apprentices) or full time school (students). Adolescents reporting a body mass index (BMI) > 85th percentile for age and gender were compared with those reporting a BMI around the median (25th-75th percentile).

Self-reported health needs and use of primary health care services by adolescents enrolled in post-mandatory schools or vocational training programmes in Switzerland.

Background: The second Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health (SMASH02) was conducted among a representative sample (n = 7428) of students and apprentices aged 16 to 20 from the three language areas of Switzerland during the year 2002. This paper reports on health needs expressed by adolescents and their use of health care services over the 12 months preceding the survey.

Methods: Nineteen cantons representing 80% of the resident population agreed to participate.