Pubdate: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2015 Nanaimo Daily News Contact: http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608 Author: Darrell Bellaart Page: A9 Cited: McCreary Centre Society: http://www.mcs.bc.ca/ FEWER YOUNG PEOPLE SMOKE OR TRY DRUGS Substance use is down among young people in Nanaimo, based on self-reported data collected in a provincial youth survey. Fewer youth are smoking, trying drugs and/or alcohol and those who are, tend to wait longer, says the latest report from McCreary Centre Society. More than 30,000 B.C. students in Grades 7 through 12 took the BC Adolescent Health Survey between February and June, 2013. Based on responses from students in four school districts between Cowichan Valley, Qualicum Beach and west, 22 per cent had ever smoked tobacco, an eight-per cent drop from 2008. "The good news is we're seeing some improvement in experimentation with a variety of different substances," said Dr. Paul Hasselback, Island Health medical health officer for the central Island region. "We're seeing some improvements in violence, bullying and anti-social behaviour. There's a lot in there to celebrate." Fifty-three per cent of Central Island youth said they'd tried alcohol, higher than the provincial rate of 45 per cent. They're also more likely to use pot - 30 per cent versus 26 per cent provincially. Still, that represents a drop from previous survey years. Youth are also waiting longer to first try these substances. But the study highlights concerns about mental health and lack of sleep among Central Island youth. There were no improvements in the percentage of male and female students who attempted suicide. Deliberate self-harm, with no intention to kill themselves was reported by 22 per cent of females and seven per cent of males in the previous year. Concerns about mental health and lack of sleep reflect similar findings of the survey across the province. "We see a direct relationship between getting enough sleep and positive mental health, yet 45 (per cent) of local students did not get eight hours of sleep on the night before taking the survey and over three-quarters were online or on their phone after their parents expected them to be asleep," the report's authors wrote. Numbers on suicide ideation and seem "really high, But it's not that different than many other studies undertaken over several decades," Hasselback said. While substance use is down, so is drinking and driving, which was reported by five per cent of respondents, down from 12 per cent in the last survey. The nonprofit McCreary society was created in 1977 to improve the health of youth. This is the fifth time students have been asked to complete the survey. Past surveys were done in 1992, 1998, 2003 and 2008. All local school districts participated in 2003, '08 and '13, which allowed local trend reporting for the past decade. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom