When it comes to young people drinking alcohol, using cannabis, vaping and having sex, the Okanagan takes the cake, according to a recently published survey.
According to the study published by the McCreary Society, local students were more likely to have engaged in oral sex and intercourse than their peers across the province with 27 per cent of students reporting they had oral sex in 2018.
Okanagan youth also remained more likely than their peers across B.C. to have tried smoking tobacco with 24 per cent of youth claiming they smoked tobacco in 2018 compared to 18 per cent across the rest of the province.
Okanagan youth were also more likely to have vaped in the past month with 29 per cent of youth claiming they have vaped with nicotine in the past month compared to 21 per cent provincially.
According to the study, rates of trying alcohol and marijuana were similar to five years earlier and were also higher than the provincial average, however, local youth were more likely than in previous years to wait until they were at least 15 years old before trying marijuana for the first time.
The study surveyed 38,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 19 from 58 of B.C.’s 60 school districts. The data from this survey was taken in 2018 and is conducted every five years.
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; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: .9em; text-indent: 5px; line-height: 18px;”>Reporter, Kelowna Capital News
