NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey
The NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is conducted through an ongoing collaboration between the New York City Department of Health and Mental Health (DOHMH), the Department of Education (DOE), and the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The New York City's YRBS is part of the CDC’s National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).
Based on the protocol developed by CDC, the survey has been conducted in odd-numbered years since 1997 to monitor priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of mortality, morbidity, and social problems among youth in New York City. Students complete a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire that measures a variety of behaviors, including tobacco, alcohol and drug use, unintentional injury and violence, sexual behaviors, dietary behaviors, and physical activity. The results are representative of public high school students in grades 9 through 12. The NYC YRBS can provide prevalence data for the city as a whole, for each of the five boroughs starting in 2003, and (since 2005) for three high-risk neighborhoods - the South Bronx, North and Central Brooklyn, and East and Central Harlem in Manhattan - where the DOHMH has its District Public Health Offices.
For Health Department publications using YRBS data, please visit My Community’s Health: Data and Statistics.
Last updated: September 2011
