Page 15 - nhms2012 negeri sembilan

Executive Summary NEGERI SEMBILAN GSHS 2012

Executive Summary

The 2012 Negeri Sembilan GSHS was conducted from 23 February to 26 April 2012 involving Form 1
to 5 students from 14 schools throughout Negeri Sembilan. The survey used a two-stage cluster
sampling design. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of health-related
behaviors, risky behaviors and protective factors among secondary school students in Negeri
Sembilan. The survey was administered using a self-administered questionnaire. The response rates
at school levels was 100%, with a students’response rate of 87.9% (1,647 of 1,874 students responded).

Key Findings

About 60.0% had their _rst drink of alcohol before the age of 14 years. The prevalence of current
alcohol use was 4.4% while, drunkenness was reported in 3.4% of the students. In relation to dietary
behaviour, 8.1% of the students were at risk of becoming underweight while 10.0% at risk of
becoming obese. In the past 30 days, only 28.0% of the students consumed fruits and vegetables at
least _ve times daily and one _fth of them drank carbonated drinks at least once daily. As for drug
used, 97.2% of the students reported never use drugs with 2.8% reported ever used drug.

Overall, 2.6% of the students reported brushing their teeth less than once daily and 88.4% brushed
at least twice daily. Only 59.0% of students reported using `uoridated toothpaste. In the past 30 days,
3.8% never or rarely wash their hand after using the toilet and 11.3% never or rarely use soap when
washing their hands. Suicidal ideation, suicidal plan and attempted suicide were noted among 5.6%,
4.8% and 5.3% of the students respectively. The inability to sleep at night due to worry was noted
among 4.9% of students, while loneliness was found in 8.1% and 2.8% reported having no close friend.
With regards to physical activity 29.5% of the students were found to be active in the past seven days,
while almost half were engaged in sedentry activities. Parental or guardian supervision was reported
in 18.2% of the students, while almost half of them claimed had parental or guardian connectedness
and less than half had reported and parental or guardian bonding. Truancy was reported in 24.7% of
the students.

This study found that , 8.3% of students ever had sex. About 11.6% of the students were current
cigarettes smokers. Among those who ever smoked, three quarters had tried a cigarette before the
age of 14 years. More than one third of the students reported exposure to secondhand smoke from
people smoking in their presence, while more than one third claimed had parents or guardian who
used any form of tobacco. Notably, 29.0% and 26.2% of the students were physically attacked and
involved in a physical _ght respectively, with 32.6% who had serious injury. Having been bullied was
reported in 18.2% of the students while 10.5% had been physically abused at home.

Recommendations

Based on these _ndings, some of the recommendations are listed below:

i. To further strengthen the existing intervention measures on drug abuse in the school such as
the ‘Five Minutes Talk on Drugs’, the Doktor Muda Programme and empowerment of the
counsellor in detection, counseling and referral to relevant agencies.
ii. Further in-depth comparative studies are recommended to be conducted by relevant agencies
to identify factors that could possibly contribute to the favourable _ndings. This will enable
other states to adopt the relevant approaches towards more positive behavioural pattern and
holistic health outcomes among the students.

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