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Executive Summary TERENGGANU GSHS 2012

Executive Summary

The 2012 Terengganu GSHS was conducted from 23 February to 26 April 2012 involving Form 1 to 5
students from 17 schools throughout Terengganu. The survey used a two-stage cluster sampling
design. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of health-related behaviours,
risky behaviours and protective factors among secondary school students inTerengganu.The survey
was administered using self-administered questionnaire.The response rate at school level was 100%,
with a students’response rate of 89.0% (1,645 of 1,848 students responded).

Key Findings

About 92.6% ever drinkers had their _rst drink of alcohol before the age of 14 years. The prevalence
of current alcohol use was 2.5%. In relation to dietary behaviour, 9.9% of the students were at risk of
becoming underweight, while 8.5% students were at risk of becoming obese. In the past 30 days,
only 31.4% of the students consumed fruits and vegetables at least _ve times daily and almost one
third of them drank carbonated drinks at least once daily. As for drug use, 29 students reported ever
used drug with all of them _rst used drug before the age of 14 years.

Overall, 2.1% of the students reported brushing their teeth less than once daily and 88.6% brushed
at least twice daily. Only 60.0% of students reported using `uoridated toothpaste. In the past 30 days,
8.4% never or rarely wash their hands after using the toilet and 19.5% never or rarely used soap when
washing their hands. Suicidal ideation, suicidal plan and attempted suicide were noted among 5.1%,
5.2% and 5.0% of the students respectively. The inability to sleep at night due to worry was noted
among 5.1% of students, while loneliness was found in 8.9% and 3.2% reported having no close friend.
With regards to physical activity, 23.2% of the students were found to be active in the past seven days,
while almost half of them were engaged in sedentary activities. Parental or guardian supervision was
reported in 12.5% of the students, while one third of them claimed had parental or guardian
connectedness and almost half had reported parental or guardian bonding.Truancy was reported in
35.6% of the students.

This study found that 6.5% of students ever had sex with half of them had sex for the _rst time before
the age of 14 years. About 14.1% of the students were current cigarette smokers. Among those who
ever smoked, almost three quaters _rst tried a cigarette before the age of 14 years. Almost half of the
students reported exposure to secondhand smoke from people smoking in their presence, while
more than half claimed had parents or guardians who used any form of tobacco. Notably, 25.6% and
25.2% of the students were physically attacked and involved in a physical _ght respectively, with
38.2% who had serious injury. Having been bullied was reported in 13.4% of the students, while 9.0%
had been physically abused at home.

Recommendations

Based on the _ndings, the following recommendations are made:
i. Further in-depth studies are recommended to be conducted by relevant agencies to
identify factors that may contribute to poor hygiene practices and truancy.
ii. More e]ort is needed to strengthen health education on personal hygine and proper
hand washing practices in schools, homes and community.

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