Children's health: Health in Sweden: The National Public Health Report 2012. Chapter 2

Abstract

The percentage of girls in the 9 th grade who reported feeling increasingly stressed by schoolwork rose from 50 to nearly 70 per cent in the years between 1997-1998 and 2005-2006.). However, the proportion of children who experienced such problems decreased in 2009/2010. Pupils in the 5 th grade view the lack of peace and quiet in school classrooms as a significant problem. The proportion of children who report that they are bullied in school at least once a week has stood at approximately 3-4 per cent since the 1980s, despite greater efforts to curb bullying in schools. Today's children eat less candy and drink fewer soft drinks than a decade ago. They also eat more fruit and vegetables. The percentage of overweight children has, however, doubled; in the last two decades their number has risen by a factor of four or five. In the most recent years, however, reports have suggested that the rise in the percentage of overweight children has halted, and may have even begun to decline.

Health, economy and social capital in Nordic children aged 13-17 years and their families: changes between 1984, 1996 and 2011

“…The increase of PSC in teenagers is in line with many other studies, in the Nordic countries as well in most of the Western world, [38][39][40]47] as is the gender difference. [48] It is perhaps not expected that the increase happens in conjunction with improved family economy, but it is not a new phenomenon.…”

“…[38][39][40] There is a growing proportion of young people leaving compulsory school without qualifications for further studies, and on top of that, there are great problems with young people's integration into the labor markets. [41] However, there are also other factors that could influence the development of PSC: these kinds of unwanted problems are less accepted today than they were 25 years ago, both by children and parents, and physical health problems have disappeared or diminished from the youngsters' lives, which might open up for new and "milder" concerns.…”

Parental cancer diagnosis and child mortality—A population-based cohort study in Sweden

“…This population-based cohort study shows that a parental cancer diagnosis was associated with an increased rate of death among children aged [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]; this association appears to be slightly stronger among adolescents. Careful interpretation of the findings is needed because of the low absolute risk of death among these children and lack of information of other potential confounders.…”

“…Child and parental characteristics may serve as potential confounders for the studied association, since they may be associated with both the risk of cancer among parents and the risk of death among children [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. We further obtained information on gestational age, mode of delivery and birth weight of the child, maternal smoking during early pregnancy (available since 1983), maternal age at child's birth, as well as the highest educational level and socio-economic classification of the parents (Table 1).…”

Economic stress and condescending treatment in childhood and adult self-rated health: results from a population study in Sweden

“…about 1800 EUR/month for families with two adults and two children) [28]. In addition, many children are exposed to adverse experiences, for instance being bullied [29]. It is therefore important to study the associations between childhood material and psychosocial circumstances and adult health.…”