Young people on health

A bigger share of young people feel anxious about their health and psychosomatic symptoms like stomach ache, headaches and sleeplessness are more frequent. That is shown in the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs' study Young People with Attitude from 2007.

The Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs undertakes regular attitude and value surveys. Both young and older people reply to questions on attitudes to becoming an adult, leisure, work, politics, diversity issues, gender equality, health etc. The 2007 study Young People with Attitude focused on 6 000 persons in the age-range of 16–29 years and 1 500 in the age-range of 35–74 years.

Young people in Sweden feel well in an international comparison. But young people have felt better than they do at present. Despite young people consuming less alcohol, tobacco and drugs at present than they did in the 1980’s, the proportion frequently anxious about their health has actually risen.

Psychosomatic symptoms - e.g. stomach ache, headaches and sleeplessness - have also steadily grown and in this case, above all, amongst young women. Least satisfied with their health are the young unemployed.

Life expectations and the future
A slightly smaller share of young people (46 per cent) than older people (55 per cent) consider that life meets their expectations. Amongst young people who are unemployed or in labour market programmes only 22 per cent agree that life corresponds to their expectations while 49 per cent believe that it does not.

It is the age-group 55–74 years who, to the greatest extent, has a high quality of life. In the group of young people 7 per cent state they have a low quality of life, but 64 per cent of them report that they view the future optimistically. Nine out of ten, 93 per cent, have a high quality of life and, of them, almost all, 99 per cent, have an optimistic view of the future. Within the young persons’ group, the 16–19 year-olds are most pessimistic about their future.