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1. Main trends in the health conditions of young people

2. Main concepts

Main trends in the health conditions of young people

Statistical information coming from surveys conducted as part of the Public Statistical Data Survey Programme (Program Badań Statystycznych Statystyki Publicznej) both by the Central Statistical Office and individual sectors (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration) is the most important source of statistical data relating to the health of the Polish population. Administrative data and collective publications obtained from institutions operating in the field of health care are an additional source. Data concerning young people’s health is drawn also from research done in school. It allows us to identify risk factors for civilisational illnesses occurring at a later age.

Lifestyle is a factor in civilisational illnesses, such as cardiovascular issues, diabetes, motile system disorders, which are occurring at a much earlier age. Research done in Poland towards the end of 2018 shows that many risk factors of civilisational illnesses can be identified already among children and school youth. About 1/3rd of second year students in elementary schools (so 8-year olds) are overweight or obese, and only a slightly lower fraction of seventh year students (so 13-year olds). It needs to be noted that the percentage of obese and overweight 8-year boys has increased in a statistically meaningful way between years 2016 and 2018. Levels of physical activity are on the decline. In the 11 to 15 years age group, “over 80% do not fulfill expert recommendation” – that is the percentage of youth declaring less than an hour of mildly strenuous activity a day. Furthermore, physical activity decreases with age. It comes as no surprise, then, that “arterial systolic blood pressure above the norm has been noted in 24.6% second year students, and in 13.7% of them, results represented values of hypertension of the 1st or 2nd degree (...). Increased systolic blood pressure could be found in 12.1% of seventh-year students.” One in five eight-years old, and a half of 13-year-olds do not eat breakfast daily in school, including 3% of younger students and 20% of older students who do not do so at all. Over half of children aged 11 to 15 drink carbonated sweet drinks too often, over two thirds of them eat sweets too often, and almost two thirds too rarely eat fruit and vegetables.

The conclusions of this research show that the “most common risk factor for future health issues, present in all researched groups, is an insufficient level of physical activity.” This problem increases in age. Among young people, obesity and overweight are also problems, affecting around 30% of the researched population. However, “insufficient attention is paid to low body mass problems in the child population. It shows up in 14% of children aged 7-9 and among early adolescent youth (12-14 years), which compared to the referential value of 3 to 5% suggests a concerning result.” Therefore, decision-makers are still facing lots of challenges to ensure that young people have the best possible conditions in which to develop their physical and mental health, and the young generation is still struggling with a number of problems in this scope.

This is further confirmed by the 2020 report Health and health habits of 17 year old students in the second decade of their lives (Zdrowie i zachowania zdrowotne uczniów 17-letnich na tle zmian w drugiej dekadzie życia): “In youth aged 17, the decrease in physical activity is a continuing trend. (...) More free time is being spent with computers, tablets, and smartphones. Most nutrition habits are also deteriorating; breakfasts are eaten less often, as are fruits and vegetables. (...) In youth aged 15 to 17, the level of consumption of select unhealthy goods (sweets, sweetened beverages) seems to have stabilized. (...) Among 17 year olds, there is a marked increase in experiences of fatigue and of youth failing to sleep for the recommended time.”

Newer research (2021) published in the Children's ombudsman’s (Rzecznik Praw Dziecka) report Quality of children’s and youth life in Poland (Ogólnopolskie badanie jakości życia dzieci i młodzieży w Polsce) confirms those conclusions. Poor physical fitness among children and youth continues. Self perception of personal fitness seems to be decreasing with age: 79% of second grade elementary school students reported feeling well and being fit, which decreased to 70% in the sixth grade, and just 55% in the second year of high school. Subjective perception of personal health also decreases with age. In the second grade of elementary school 36% of children saw their health as “perfect” and 34% as “very good”, in the sixth grade it was 22% and 48%, while in the second year of highschool just 11% and 39%.

This research failed to fully capture the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the self-perception of personal health among Poles. It is predicted that the situation has since deteriorated. This is suggested by comparing the results of three editions of the National Polish Health Test (Narodowego Testu Zdrowia Polaków). “Poles rate their physical and psychical well-being the worst in three years (comparison of results of three editions of the National Polish Health Test for 2020, 2021, and 2022)”. This affects young adults (aged 18-24) the most. “It is one of the two groups where from year to year the general Health Index did not improve, but deteriorated. Currently, it is 51.2%, and is the lowest among all age groups. At the same time this group has the lowest self-perception of their physical health (13% rate it as bad or very bad) and psychic wellbeing (as much 29% see it as bad or very bad.)”. Those conclusions are further confirmed by the National Polish Health Test for 2023 (Narodowy Test Zdrowia Polaków 2023). Youngest populations surveyed (aged 18-24) continue to care the least for their health (despite the increase of the Health Index to 57.5), and also rate their health the lowest among all the age groups. A highly concerning sign is the data concerning the self-appraisal of psychic health: in 2023, “self-appraised psychic health among Poles has decreased slightly compared to the previous year. (...) It is alarming that as much as 32% of people aged 18 to 24 rate their psychic health as bad or very bad. This is a 3 percentage point increase compared to the previous year, and 12 point increase compared to 2020”. It is the age group with the highest observed decrease in self-appraised psychic health.

All the research points towards the ongoing, or perhaps even worsening, issue among the youth that has to do primarily with insufficient levels of physical activity, growing issues with obesity, and worsening state of psychic health. Latest research conducted in 2023 by the The Unaweza Foundation and published in the Young Heads: Speaking Plainly About Mental Health report (Młode Głowy. Otwarcie o zdrowiu psychicznym) provide something of a summation for the situation. According to surveys sent in by over 184 thousand children and youths aged 10 to 19, gathered in all types of schools, are highly concerning. Nearly half of the respondents have food issues (43.3% binge eat or starve themselves), while nearly one third regularly seek to lose weight, with one third also assessing themselves through the prism of their body, while almost half (42.6%) have experienced hate on the Internet over their physical appearance. Likewise, nearly half (41.2%) claims that “someone close to them mentioned suicide, attempted suicide, or committed suicide”. Two-fifths (39.2%) admitted to suicidal ideation, one in four respondents (25.9%) mentioned suicide, almost one in five (18.6%) planned suicide, and almost one in ten (8.8%) attempted suicide.

The system of health care for young people with mental problems leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the facilities where young people can get help are situated in big cities. There are fewer psychiatrists and psychologists than necessary, the effectiveness of prevention is poor, and the extent of the problem still fails to be reliably recognised.

The situation  has not improved in many years. At the end of 2021, there were 455 practicing child psychiatrists in Poland. The population of children up to age of 18 in Poland is approximately 7 million (7 000 600 in 2021). Therefore, there were 6,5 child psychiatrists per 100 000 minors in Poland, when the WHO standard is 10. Hospital admission takes at least a few months, hospital beds are being reduced, the hospitals themselves are overburdened and it is not uncommon for minors to be admitted to the so called “add-ons” (beds in hospital corridors). The situation has slightly improved. According to the data for the end of June 2024, the number of practicing child psychiatrists rose to 563, which gives the factor of about 8 and is still far below the WHO standards.

Even worse is the general availability of psychiatric help for youths and children in out-patient clinics, with average waiting period increasing from 44 days in 2017 to 56 days in 2019 and to 103 in 2023. Attention needs to be paid to differences in the length of waiting lists for psychiatric counsel. There are places where an appointment can be secured for the next day, and places where the nearest available appointments can be booked for 2026.

A new model of minor psychiatric care protection  (started in 2020), introduced a three-tier care system. Its basic assumption is to attempt to diagnose minors in sites located as close to the patient as possible: in Local Psychological and Psychiatric Care Centers (which are to be established in every district, which do not have doctors on staff, only psychologists, psychotherapists, and environmental therapists, which do not require a doctor’s referral, in January 2024 Level I services for child psychiatry were being given in 454 sites), and only afterwards in Local Psychic Care Centers (with a psychiatric doctor on staff, and including the possibility of providing day care – in January 2024 were 161 sites active at Level 2 of system) and Urgent Psychiatric Care Centers (hospital units – 34 sites in January 2024, however, they are unevenly geographically distributed). The reform is being implemented, and in the second half of 2025, the entire country may be covered by the network of psychic health centers.

The National Mental Health Protection Programme for 2017-2022 (Narodowy Program Ochrony Zdrowia Psychicznego na lata 2017-2022, in November,, a new programme for years 2023-2030 has been enacted. , The Programme includes a diagnosis which contains data referring to the 18-29 age group. The diagnosis shows that 2.1% of people from this age group (1.7% of males and 2.6% of females) have had a depression episode at some point in their life, and a total of 0.4% have been affected by persistent depressive disorder called dysthymia. However, it is quite likely that the data quoted is significantly underestimated, because police data shows that the highest percentage of suicidal attempts is in the group of 20-24-year-olds. In the same way, data referring to the percentage of people receiving treatment ought to be treated very cautiously. It was confirmed by the diagnosis which was  contained in the Programme of Preventing Depression in Poland for 2016-2020 (Program zapobiegania depresji w Polsce na lata 2016-2020, it is not being currently continued in this form) which indicates that depression in young people may affect from 4-8% to 20% of their population.  Depression in children and young people is still less clear than adult depression. In addition to that, a high Charlson Comorbidity Index is an additional characteristic of childhood and puberty – from 30 to 75% of children with depression meet the diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders. Therefore, it is not surprising that Polish school children quite frequently go for psychotropic substances not prescribed by doctors (for example sleeping pills or calming tablets). It refers to about 15% of 15- and 16-year-olds and about 18% of 17- and 18-year-olds. Girls are likely to use such substances twice as often as boys. The characteristics of youth depression are worth noticing. "It is inextricably linked to the difficulties of adolescence and development tasks of that phase (...) the clinical picture of the disease is often masked by tantrums, boredom and tiredness, as well as disruptive behaviour such as escaping from home, truancy as well as self-destructive and antisocial behaviour. The symptoms of depression are frequently accompanied by difficulties at school, cutting ties with peers, worse relationships with the loved ones and withdrawal. Growing depression symptoms in adolescents require special attention as they may lead to suicidal attempts or to suicide." In Poland, the rate of suicidal attempts among children and young people significantly increased over the last few years.  2015 marked high, - 481 attempts, including 12 by children under 12. In 2016 this rate was slightly lower - 475 attempts. The number of suicide attempts among minors was 730 for 2017 (including 28 for children age 7-12), 772 for 2018 (including 26 for children age 7-12), in 2019 there were 951 such attempts (including 46 by children age 7-12),, in 2022 there were 2031 suicide attempts (including 156 successfull ones), while in 2023 the numbers reached 2139 suicide attempts (including 85 by children age 7-12) with 145 successful ones.

Currently, promoting mental health is one of  the operational goals of the National Health Programme for years 2021-2025, but youth and children are not singled out as a special group of concern within that programme, and the term “depression” is not mentioned in the entire document. The aforementioned Depression Prevention Programme does not have a continuation as a separate action. Its parts have been picked up by the National Health Programme, but are not clearly designated within it. In the entire Programme, the word “children” is used three times, and “youth” appears twice.

The situation concerning vaccinations is alarming, specialists are seriously concerned about a growing anti-vaccination movement - data provided by the National Institute of Hygiene (Narodowy Instytut Zdrowia Publicznego) shows that in 2010 there were as many as 3 437 parental refusals to have their children vaccinated, 16 689 in 2015, 50 088 in 2020 and up to 87 344  in 2023.

Main concepts

The report does not confirm young people’s using drugs on an allegedly large scale -  83%  said that within the year preceding the survey they had not experimented with drugs - on the other hand, it should be stressed that 38% of young people admitted to having ever used some kind of a drug. The most common ones are marijuana and hashish, as well as amphetamine and tranquilisers used without prescriptions from a physician. The number of young people experimenting with designer drugs decreased. The research shows that in 2018, 2.6% of youth declared having contact with those substances, indicating a rate similar to 2008, when they first appeared on Polish market.

The situation of young people being overweight or obese is not good, although better than in the rest of Europe. However, in 2018, up to 22% children of school age were overweight, and Polish children are among "the most quickly becoming overweight in Europe”. This is confirmed by 2022 data from the WHO European Regional Obesity Report 2022. 6.7% of children under 5 are overweight (including obesity), then 29.5% for those aged 5 to 9 (including 12.5% obese), then 23.6% for those aged 10 to 19 (including 7.2% obese). Among other things, this situation is caused by bad eating habits. As the last National Public Health Institute’s research from 2019 shows, close to half of youths of ages 10 to 17 eat 4 meals a day, while most of the rest eat 3 or 5 (or more), but only less than 20% eat all meals at regular hours. As a result, over 60% of youths snack between meals. Young people often consume baked goods, usually white wheat bread. Vegetables are eaten daily only by less than 20% of young people, and so are fruits. Meat (especially poultry and ham) is commonly consumed, and fish is less common. Two fifths of young people sweeten their drinks and food with sugar (and over half of them do it at least once a day). Almost everyone eats sweets (and a third of them do so many times a week). Most young people drink sweetened carbonated drinks (one third a few times a week, and almost 10% daily), while almost two fifths eats “junk food” (mostly crisps and other salty snacks) several times a week.

Low level of young people’s physical activity is another factor influencing the risk of obesity and the prevalence of other conditions:  Even though recent study from 2021 shows that some 27% (fewer surveyed young people than two years ago which makes it the lowest result in the history of the survey) declared practicing sport as their most preferred way of spending free time. 33% prefer video games to sport and 27% surfing the internet. "Doing nothing" was a favourite passtime for 33% of the surveyed youth and it is an activity chosen by increasingly large percentage of young people (a growing trend from 2013 and the highest result in the history the survey). On the other hand, 72% of boys and 57% of girls declare physical activity (beside PE classes) at least once a week (mainly biking and individual exercise at home).

Polish youth shows insufficient levels of physical activity. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue. Research done in the summer of 2021 shows that the level of physical activity among young people has decreased. Currently, only 41% of youths of ages 10 to 18 declare an hour of physical activity at least 4 days a week, compared to 51% in 2019. Furthermore, the percentage of youth which limits its physical activity to 1 or 2 days a week has increased (29%), as well as the percentage of young people who are not physically active at all (9%). The intensity of physical activity has also decreased (the most common form being talking walks). Actions are being taken to reverse those negative trends, such as the educational campaign Returning to Shape! (Wracamy do formy!) and the Ministry of Sports School Sport Club programme that it is promoting. The “Sport Talents” (“Sportowe Talenty”) programme has been introduced. The programme is based on conducting national fitness tests in grades 4 through 8 of elementary schools, and in all grades of above-elementary schools. The results from those tests, along with body weight measures, are inputted into the central information system.