Engl. transl.: Alimentation, Physical activity, sedentary lifestyle and sleep: Behaviors, health and student well-being in 2018 HBSC survey in French-speaking Belgium

The "Behavior, well-being and health of students" survey is carried out every four years, since 1986, with pupils from 5th primary to the end of secondary in French-speaking schools in Belgium. This survey is the French-speaking Belgian side of the international HBSC study in which nearly 50 countries or regions participate, under the patronage of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. In French-speaking Belgium, this study is carried out by the Service of Information, Promotion, Health Education (SIPES1) of the School of Public Health at the Free University of Brussels (ULB). The data collected as part of this survey focus on adolescent health behaviors (diet, physical activity, smoking, etc.), their well-being (life satisfaction, stress related to school work, psychosomatic symptoms ...) and the factors associated with these indicators (socio-demographic, school, family characteristics, etc.). The repetition of the survey every four years has the advantage of allowing a follow-up of their evolutions in time. It thus makes it possible to provide information useful for health promotion actors targeting a public adolescents, and contribute to the implementation of health promotion policies and interventions in areas covered by this collection.

One on three adolescents watches three to four hours of television a day. Watching television between four hours a day and five hours a day and more were significantly higher in secondary school than at the end of primary school. Boys were significantly more likely than girls to spend at least two hours a day watching television. The proportion of students watching television for at least two hours a day was significantly higher among vocational school students (79.8%) and technical qualification (77.6%) than at those of general and technical transitional education (69.8%). Concerning playing video games, boys significantly plat it more than girls, regardless of the education level and is giher among adolescents than primary students. Concerning the internet use, one on four spends daily five hours or more on the internet and girls were proportionately more numerous than boys to use the internet at least two hours per day. Concerning the education level there were two trends. On one hand, the higher the education level, the more increased the proportions are for students to use the internet from three to four hours a day or five hours a day. On the other hand, the proportion of adolescents using the internet for at least two hours a day was higher in technical qualification education (80.6%) and professional (85.2%) than in general education. (Translated by Joanna Beeckmans)