The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is an epidemiologic surveillance system that was established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the prevalence of youth behaviors that most influence health. The 2001 national school-based Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is one component of the YRBSS. The YRBS focuses on priority health-risk behaviors established during youth that result in the most significant mortality, morbidity, disability, and social problems during both youth and adulthood. These include: tobacco use; unhealthy dietary behaviors; inadequate physical activity; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors that may result in HIV infection, other sexually transmitted diseases; unintended pregnancies; and behaviors that may result in violence and unintentional injuries.

The results from the YRBS will be used by CDC to (1) monitor how priority health-risk behaviors among high school students (grades 9-12) increase, decrease, or remain the same over time; (2) evaluate the impact of broad national, state, and local efforts to prevent priority health-risk behaviors; and (3) monitor progress in achieving three leading health indicators and 15 Healthy People 2010 national health objectives. Results also will be used to help focus programs and policies for comprehensive school health education on the behaviors that contribute most to the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Five previous versions of the YRBS have been archived at Sociometrics. The 1992 survey (DAAPPP data set K9), the 1993 (data set M1), the 1995 (data set N4), the 1997 (data set P5), and the 2001 (data set P6). Each of these data sets is cross-sectional. For more information on the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site at http://www.cdc.gov.