'Concerning' results from Fife health and wellbeing survey

More than 21,000 pupils from P5 to S6 took part and local councillors said the results - on everything from bullying, smoking and alcohol to eating habits, hours of sleep and future career prospects - were "concerning".

A report on the Fife Young People Health and Wellbeing survey was given to the Cowdenbeath area committee on Wednesday.

Cllr Bailey-Lee Robb said: "The graph shows something like six or seven blue (where Cowdenbeath fared better than the rest of Fife) and about 100 red (where it fared worse).

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"That's concerning. The two that really stick out to me are the buying of cigarettes and vapes - ideally we would like to see disposable vapes banned and tougher restrictions - and the other is about the 'community I live in'.

"Almost everyone has a negative view of their community."

Cowdenbeath councillor Bailey-Lee Robb said the results of the survey were concerning. (Image: Fife Council)

Quality improvement officer in health and wellbeing, Pam Colburn, confirmed: "We had more 'worse than' results in Cowdenbeath when compared to the rest of Fife."

Pupils completed the survey - anonymously - in March and April last year and the council said there was a positive 63 per cent response.

The committee report said there were "multiple areas" where health and wellbeing data was worse in the Cowdenbeath area compared to the rest of the Kingdom.

This included how many hours of sleep young people were getting each night, the amount of sugary drinks and foods they were consuming - and how little fruit and veg, the number who didn't have breakfast, those who drank alcohol at least once a week, the number who bought cigarettes or vapes and the number of youngsters who did not engage in hobbies.

Other worrying responses included the number of youngsters in the Cowdenbeath area who had self harmed, been bullied online, who didn't feel positive about their future and didn't think their area was a good place to live.

Some of the aspects that were more positive was the amount of time youngsters spent on social media, which was not as long as other kids in Fife, and the higher number who had taken part in a Duke of Edinburgh Award.

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Ms Colburn said that not all of the responses were included in the report to the committee, as there were far too many, and those that were highlighted "statistically significant differences".

She went on: "The majority of the responses we provided you with are where Cowdenbeath has come out significantly worse than the rest of Fife.

"We know and appreciate there's a lot of work to be done but there is work underway.

"Some of the results have not been a surprise, based on knowledge that education and health services currently have, so we had an understanding of what may come out.

"But there are some surprises too."

Councillors were told the results identified and confirmed "priority areas" for action and that the evidence was being used to inform a new strategy.

Five key areas have been highlighted: mental wellbeing, physical wellbeing, health inequalities, relationships and behaviour, and communication.

Ms Colburn said that pupils will be asked about their response to the survey results - "to see what it means to them" and "how they can help us come up with solutions".