This Wednesday, May 31, 2017, the French Red Cross published its “barometer of public health needs and perspectives”. And the least we can say is that the figures are not exciting, especially when it comes to the health of young people and students …
According to figures from the humanitarian association (currently chaired by Jean-Jacques Eledjam), “13,000 Parisian students skip four to six meals a week, for lack of being able to afford them” and “one in five young French people has already given up care for lack of sufficient financial resources ”.
Regarding eating habits, the finding is also alarming: “only 6.4% of 12-30 year olds said they had eaten fruits and vegetables the day before the interview; only 38.4% of 12-30 year olds eat fish at least twice a week as recommended; for the consumption of sugary drinks, 38.7% of 12-30 year olds drank them at least once the day before the interview ”.
Average age of first intoxication: 15.2 years
Unfortunately, tobacco remains “the first psychoactive product consumed daily in adolescence”: thus “at 17, 30% of girls and 33% of boys are daily smokers”. For alcohol, “the average age of first intoxication is 15.2 years”.
Finally, the question of sleep: “15-30 year olds report an average effective sleep time of 7.26 hours, with a declaration of an average necessary sleep time of 7.52 hours, nearly a quarter of young people in 15-30 years thus appear in sleep debt (23.2%), this proportion corresponding to a difference between effective and necessary sleep time greater than 90 minutes ”.
To improve the situation, the French Red Cross presents some proposals: access to minimum social benefits from the age of 16, for example, as well as the integration of a “health” component within the framework of civic service.
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