Ogden, UTAH – According to the state officials, Utah youth face similar challenges. In 2021,
Utah-specific Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System showed:
Health habits
- More youth are watching TV or playing video games than ever before. The percentage of youth who watched TV or played video games for more than 2 hours a day increased from a low of 14.9% in 2013 to a high of 55.5% in 2021.
- Only 23.5% of youth got 8 or more hours of sleep on an average school night.
- Only 21.7% of youth met the recommended 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day.
- 47% of youth text while driving.
Mental health and suicide
- 41.5% of youth felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more. This is a significant increase from 33% in 2017.
- The percentage of youth who seriously considered attempting suicide remained steady since 2017. Similar to previous years, statistically more female students and gay, lesbian, and bisexual students considered suicide than their male or heterosexual peers.
Violence
- The percentage of youth who were hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend dropped from a high of 12.6% in 2007 to a low of 6.1% in 2021.
- 20.6% of youth were verbally or emotionally harmed by someone they were dating or going out with.
- 7.7% of youth were physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to.