| Summary: | Health risk behaviour is certainly one of the most crucial aspects in the life of the present-day
adolescent. According to the literature a healthy lifestyle includes regular exercise,
health meals, sufficient rest, recreation and managing stress successfully. Health
behaviour activities therefore are lifestyle activities that can affect one's health and
wellbeing positively or negatively. Health risk behaviour or an unhealthy lifestyle
includes violence, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, sexual activity, unhealthy diet and a
lack of physical activity. The adolescent is easily influenced and susceptible and
therefore role models can have a strong influence on the behaviour of the adolescent.
Many researchers are of the opinion that high performance sport is inclined to be
characterised by health risk behaviour of the participants and also indicate that older
sportsmen and -women have a definite influence on the behaviour of younger sportsmen
and -women. It was also found that young sportsmen and sportswomen are more
exposed to health risk behaviour than non-sportsmen and sportswomen.
The aim of the study was, firstly, to establish the health risk behaviour of adolescents of
different genders, racial groups and age groups in the Potchefstroom district and to
determine if gender, racial groups and age groups had an effect. The second aim was to
establish whether the health risk behaviour of sport participants and non-participants
differ and if these differences were gender and/or race specific or not.
470 High school pupils (boys n=205; girls n=265) of different race groups (white n=l58;
black n=150; Coloured n=l14 and Indian n=48) between 13 and 18 years of age, living in
the Potchefstroom district in the North West Province, were involved in the study. The
YRBS questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding the health risk behaviour of
the pupils. The health risk behaviours included violence, smoking, alcohol and drug
abuse, sexual behaviour and physical inactivity.
The "Statistica for Windows version 6" computer programme (Statsoft, Inc. 2003) was
used. To process the collected data, descriptive statistics were used to establish the
percentage participation in the distinctive health risk practices. Two-way frequency
tables were used to determine the relationship between gender, race and age as well as
percentage participation or not.
Tendencies that were established in this study with regard to the high school pupils' risk
behaviour correlate with other national studies, but also show that the occurrence of
participation in health risk behaviour in South Africa is lower than that found in
international studies. A large percentage of the research group (71 %) reported that they
participate in school sports, which indicates that participation in sports plays an important
role in the youth culture of high school pupils in the Potchefstroom district. Furthermore
it is apparent from the results that there is a higher percentage of participation in 4 of the
6 health risk behaviour activities by sport participants. Non-participants were physically
inactive and reported more suicide attempts. Although percentage differences were
present between the health risk behaviour of participants in sport and non-participants, it
was not practically significant. Furthermore it was found that gender and race did not
have a significant effect on the health risk behaviours of high school pupils in the
Potchefstroom district. === Thesis (M.A. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.
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