Chapter 2 describes adolescents’ experience of self perceived health, somatic illness and mental health. Nine out of ten report their self perceived health as good or very good. 12 % reported having asthma now or during the last year, while 33 % reported allergy. 54 % of boys and 72 % of the girls have had headaches during the last year. In the region of Moss, a larger proportion of adolescents report headaches compared to the average at 63 %. Two out of ten report symptoms of depression among adolescents in Østfold.

Chapter 3 deals with risk- and protective factors. One out of ten adolescents is defined as inactive. 13 % of the boys and 9 % of the girls are defined as overweight, and 3 % of boys and 1 % of girls defined as obese. 7% report daily smoking and 5 % use snuff daily. Three out of ten report binge drinking twice or more during the last year. In average about 4 % report drug abuse. Further analyses show an association between eating breakfast and school results. 6 % reported drinking 4 glasses or more of sweetened soft drinks a day. Eight out of ten brush their teeth at least twice a day.

Chapter 4 describes the use of health services and treatment, including drugs. Eight out of ten report that it is easy to get in contact with the school nurse. Three out of ten have visited nurse or doctor in school during the last year. More than fifty percent have used non-prescription painkillers.

Chapter 5 describes living conditions. 93 % agree definitely or partly that they enjoy school. 46 % report plans for higher education. Eight out of ten report that their living conditions are calm and safe, even though 17 % of the boys and 11 % of the girls have been exposed to violence from other adolescents during the last year. In all, 4 % were exposed to violence from grown ups.
Bullying was reported by 3 %.

Chapter 6 describes inequalities in health. The Family Affluence Scale (FAS) has been used as an index of socioeconomic position in this study. In this study, too, adolescents of high socioeconomic status report good or very good health. In use of free services, it seems that schools- and municipal health services are more in use among adolescents in lower socioeconomic groups. In the use of general practitioner and physiotherapists the opposite tendency is seen.

Chapter 7 concerns health and ethnicity. Two categories are used, adolescent’s mother born in Norway and mother born abroad. There are no differences in somatic health between the two categories, except for back pain. There are no differences in the use of tobacco or snuff, nor in the use of alcohol. Three out of ten with mother born abroad report having problems with language, while 5 % of those with a Norwegian mother report language problems.

Conclusions
This survey shows that the participants in The youth survey in Østfold 2008 to a large extent view their own health as good or very good, approximately 90 percent supply this answer. The survey also shows that students in Østfold drink less alcohol than students the same age in other counties. 8 % of the boys in Østfold answer that they have been drinking alcohol weekly during the last twelve months, compared to 15 % in the other counties. The national trend for alcohol consumption among adolescents has been increasing in the last decade; it is therefore surprising that data indicate decreasing consumption among 15-16 year olds. The results are generally very positive, because they show that adolescents in Østfold view themselves as healthy, and with a very high degree of well-being – over 90 % say that they enjoy school. A large proportion of the participants, almost 70 %, are physically active through
sports 3-4 times a week.

However, there are also challenges. More girls start using snuff than earlier. 13 % of girls in the survey use snuff ”now and then”, 2 % use snuff daily. A higher prevalence of mental disorders was also found in Østfold, compared to earlier data from other counties. Moreover, 14 % of the girls could be classified as underweight, based on self-reported height and weight