| Summary: | Aim: The aim of the study has been to study how a Swedish state authority talks about mental health among children and young people. Method: The study is based on a qualitative discourse analysis in which the Public Health Authority's report was carefully studied. Results: The essay highlights how a Swedish authority presents various factors that affect a child's mental well-being. The Public Health Authority describes the discourse on health as good when healthy lifestyles are anchored at an early age as it affects health for the rest of life. Texts produced within the discourse, just as the report produced by the Public Health Authority, recommend good health habits to be introduced in an early stage of a child's life. To understand what these habits are, the authority describes social practices which govern people's experience of the current discourse. The social practices recommendations guide people to act so that they are given the conditions to create healthy habits and relationships at an early age. The analysis of the report shows two dominant categories that affect children's and young people's mental health, the school and the family. These areas are the main parts that the report describes where several identity perceptions have been identified. The identity perceptions are used to categorize the individual and create a recognition to find a place in society and to its discourses. Based on the different perceptions of identity, it is then determined how the individual's surroundings and actions are perceived.
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