[Socioeconomical status, health behaviors and health status of French adolescents: Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey].
BACKGROUND
The impact of living conditions on health is not well known, but health inequalities observed in adults seem partly determined by behaviours and health status at an earlier stage, and more particularly during adolescence. So, our aim was to study adolescents' health and their health behaviours function to family socioeconomic status.


METHODS
We analysed French data from the international survey "Health Behavior in School-aged Children" carried out in a representative sample of adolescents aged 13 and 15 years in 1998. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by the adolescents who answered questions concerning their health, health behaviours, and their families' socio-economic status.


RESULTS
Adolescents from blue-collar families were more numerous to report to be in "fairly good health" or "not very good health" (OR = 1.40, CI 95% = 1.12-1.74) and to be overweight or obese (OR = 1.85, CI 95% = 1.25-2.24) than those from executive families. They were also more numerous to have bad health behaviours than those from executive families.


CONCLUSIONS
This study has established that, in adolescents, differences in health, health behaviours, types of consumption and physical activities depended on the families' socio-economic status.
Guitton
E
E
Laboratoire de Pharmaco-Epidémiologie, EA3696, Université Paul-Sabatier, Toulouse Cedex. guitton@cict.fr
Arnaud
C
C
Godeau
E
E
Navarro
F
F
Grandjean
H
H
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires