Frequently Asked Questions Youth Health monitor 2026

What is the Youth Health Monitor?

The Youth Health Monitor is a large-scale survey designed to provide insight into the health and well-being of young people. It is a nationwide study, and we invite all secondary schools to participate.

How is the Youth Health Monitor 2026 conducted?

During a class period at school, students in Years 2 and 4 complete an online questionnaire. For international schools, this corresponds to Middle Years Programme (MYP) 3 and MYP 5. A teacher provides supervision during the administration of the questionnaire in the classroom. The questionnaire covers a range of topics, including health, well-being, lifestyle, leisure time, and school.

Are secondary school students required to participate in the Youth Health Monitor 2026?

No, participation is entirely voluntary. All parents/carers and secondary school students are informed in advance about the Youth Health Monitor 2026. If you do not want your child to participate in the Youth Health Monitor 2026, you can inform the school without having to provide a reason. Secondary school students who do not wish to participate may also indicate this themselves at the time of the survey. However, for the reliability of the results at both municipal and school level, it is important that as many young people as possible complete the questionnaire.

Why is the Youth Health Monitor 2026 needed?

The municipalities in the Southeast Brabant region have asked for information about secondary school students’ health, well-being, lifestyle, and environmental factors that may affect these areas.
Using this information, municipalities aim to develop and strengthen preventive approaches to (mental) health and healthy lifestyles in the coming years. Together with relevant stakeholders, municipalities use the results to develop policies.

What do secondary school students gain from participating in the Youth Health Monitor 2026?

Completing the questionnaire may encourage secondary school students to reflect on a healthy lifestyle.
Students who would like more information about their health or who have questions can access a list of reliable and trustworthy websites at the end of the questionnaire.

Why aren’t secondary school students invited to complete the questionnaire at home?

It is known that more secondary school students complete the questionnaire when it is filled out together at school during class than when they are asked to do so at home. This results in higher response rates and more reliable findings. In addition, secondary school students can ask questions about the questionnaire directly to their teacher while completing it. Completing the questionnaire at school also reduces the possibility of parents or others looking over students’ shoulders while they answer. We want secondary school students to be able to answer honestly, including on sensitive topics such as alcohol, smoking, and drug use.

How is secondary school students’ privacy protected?

Secondary school students’ privacy is safeguarded throughout the Youth Health Monitor 2026.
The GGD conducts the survey in full compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Appropriate security measures are in place to protect data against loss and against any kind of unauthorized processing. For example, secondary school students complete the questionnaire through a secure website.
Students are never asked for their name or class. Each school receives its own link to the secure questionnaire website. All secondary school students at a school use the same link; there are no personal access codes for individual students. This allows the GGD to identify the school where the questionnaire was completed, but not which individual student completed it. Secondary school students are also not asked for their home address. Responses are therefore anonymous. However, we do ask for the postal code so that we can analyze the data at the municipal level and, where possible, at the neighborhood level.

More information can be found in the privacy statement.

How secure is the system used for the questionnaire?

The questionnaire was programmed by Ipsos I&O (ISO 27001 certified) on behalf of GGD GHOR Nederland. The online questionnaire uses the Unicom Intelligence software platform and is hosted by Survalyzer on a dedicated ISO 27001-certified server in Europe specifically for the Youth Health Monitor.
The security of the server is regularly tested through penetration and ethical hacking tests conducted by an independent specialist organization. These tests show that the environment is well secured and does not contain any vulnerabilities. In addition, GGD GHOR Nederland and Ipsos I&O have entered into a formal data processing agreement.

Are secondary school students and their parents/carers informed about the study and privacy arrangements?

Yes. Parents/carers and secondary school students receive an email from their school containing all relevant information about the Youth Health Monitor 2026.

What happens to the results of the Youth Health Monitor 2026?

The survey provides insight into the health and well-being of young people at local, regional, and national levels. The results are essential for developing forward-looking health policies and help municipalities and the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) determine where support and services for young people are most needed. Municipalities discuss the findings with schools and other organizations involved in supporting young people. Together, they identify opportunities to improve the environment in which young people live and grow up. The GGD only shares group-level results with the municipality, for example for all fourth-year secondary school students combined.

Where will the results of the Youth Health Monitor 2026 be published?

The results of the Youth Health Monitor 2026 will be published by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) on www.vzinfo.nl and RIVM StatLine. The GGD will present the findings through reports, fact sheets, data tables, and an online dashboard. These products are ultimately published on the websites GGDkompas.nl and Brabantscan.nl.
Each participating school with a sufficient response rate will receive a school-specific report from the GGD. This report provides insight, at group level, into secondary school students’ health, well-being, lifestyle, living environment, and related influencing factors. The school owns its school report and determines who is allowed to access the information.

How did the GGD select schools for the Youth Health Monitor 2026?

All secondary schools have been invited to participate in the Youth Health Monitor 2026.
To obtain reliable information about young people’s health, it is important that as many schools and secondary school students as possible participate. When nearly all schools participate, analyses can also be conducted at municipal level. This is essential for developing local health policies. The more schools participate, the better local and national policymakers can understand the situation of young people and the more targeted policies can be developed.

The GGD Youth Health Care Service also conducts research in schools using a questionnaire. Why are there two different questionnaires?

It is important that we understand the health and well-being of young people, both at the group level and at the individual level. Therefore, we conduct two surveys in secondary schools:

• The Youth Health Monitor, conducted every four years (group level): this survey is administered anonymously in Year 2 and Year 4 of secondary school, and is aimed at gaining insights into young people’s health and reporting results at the group level.
• The annual health check: De Check (individual level): this survey is not anonymous and is conducted in Year 1 and Year 4 by the Child and Youth Health Care (CYHC). Its primary purpose is to assess the health of individual young people and identify any issues that may require attention.