The Texas
Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), initiated in 1991, is a federally funded
classroom based paper survey conducted biennially on odd years to monitor
priority health-risk behaviors that contribute substantially to the leading
causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the
United States. As a primary source for comprehensive statewide data on
preventive health practices and health risk behaviors, YRBS is an important
tool for decision-making throughout the Texas Department of State Health Services
(DSHS), the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and the public health community.
Public and private health authorities at the federal and state levels rely on
YRBS to identify public health problems, design policy and interventions, set
goals, and measure progress toward those goals.
This
surveillance can be used to monitor the Year 2020 Objectives for smoking,
overweight, exercise, seat belt use, fruit/vegetable consumption, alcohol
consumption, drug use, sexual activity and other risk factors so that
intervention priorities can be established and the long-term impact of health
promotion programs can be monitored. 46 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, 28 large urban school districts, and one tribal nation receive
funding to conduct the YRBS. The YRBS is used nationwide under the direction of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) so that survey methods and
much of the questionnaire are standardized. As a result, comparisons can be
made to other states, cities and the nation as a whole.
The majority of funding for the YRBS is
provided by the CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) through a grant to DSHS.