The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to measure the health risk behavior of the nation's high school students and to measure progress toward meeting the national health objectives for the year 2000. The survey was adapted for college students and pilot tested in spring 1993 in 18 4-year public and private colleges in New Jersey. In this article, the authors summarize results from this survey regarding unmarried respondents' risk behavior, including sexual behavior, use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, and behaviors that may lead to intentional and unintentional injuries. These findings, when compared with the relevant national health objectives, suggest that New Jersey college students will meet the health objectives regarding tobacco and cocaine use but will not meet national targets set for condom and birth control use, alcohol and marijuana use, and seatbelt and bicycle helmet use.
Given the rapidity of change in both higher education and health care, re-examining the values and precepts that undergird the profession of college health is an ongoing need. Reported in this article are the results of a structured process in which a group of college health professionals from California, along with others interested in the health of college students, examined several trends affecting higher education and health; considered possible scenarios for these sectors; created a shared vision for the future of college health; and developed strategies useful in attaining that vision. The results of these deliberations are presented as a set of principles that, if followed, should increase the likelihood that college health centers will be responsive to user needs. Although the article is based on a California-based conference, the principles discussed are almost certainly valuable for all in college health.
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