Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

➢➢➢In 2008, 77% of all men and 74% of all women (between the ages15-25) reportedly exercised two to three times per weekStill, 20% of all men and 17% of all women are considered overweightAnd 6-10% of pre-primary education students are considered overweightThe most recent school Health Promotion Survey 2008 reveals healthhabits and perceptions among Finnish teenagers.Among 8th and 9th Grade students in 2008…Health17% believed themselves to be in poor health16% saw themselves as overweight30% ate junk food at least twice weeklySleep + Fatigue25% went to sleep after 11pm15% reported fatigue during school hoursStress31% reported frequent headaches38% reported burdensome school workload12% reported school “burnout”10-13% reported moderate or serious depressionAdolescence is the period during which most young Finns experiencetheir first encounter with alcohol, tobacco and drugs.Even as smoking and experimentation has declined among young people…In 2005… 7.3% 14 year-olds …smoked cigarettes daily23.3% 16 year-olds33.9% 18 year-oldsFinns reportedly get drunk more often than other Europeans, eventhough they drink alcohol less frequently. Finnish teens’ first episode ofdrunkenness, on average, is at thirteen to fourteen years old, for both boysand girls.➢ 20% of young people report getting drunk almost every week➢ 45% of 15-16 year-olds are reported to have been drunk in the previoustwelve months➢ Drug use in Finland is also in decline.➢ Among 16-18 year-olds in 2005, 7% of boys and 6% of girls experimentedwith drugs, most commonly with marijuana.➢ On average, girls reach sexual maturity shortly before age thirteen.Boys follow one to two years later.➢ Unwanted teenage pregnancies are not common➢ 19% of 8th and 9th graders in comprehensive schools complain theyreceived inadequate information in health courses on topics relatedto sexual health163