Do Brazilian students have health eating habits? Do they exercise? Smoke? Sinxce when? Have they ever taken part in any episodes of violence? What is their family life like? These and other questions will be answered by the National Survey of Students Health (PENSE 2009),which starts to be collected today, in some Brazilian states, in partnership with the Ministry  of Health and support from the Ministry of Education, covering a population of 70 thousand students from 1,507 public and private schools all over the country.

PENSE will provide material for the implementation of the System of Monitoring of Risk Factors and Protection to Teenagers’ Health, of the Ministry. Besides, it will guide public policies aimed at the young population and at future investments in this area. Data collection is expected to start today in Acre, Amazonas, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul and Piauí. Other states will start the survey up to April 10, and collection must have been completed by the middle of June. The release of PENSE results is expected to occur in December this year. 

Using data about nutrition, physical activity, oral health, alcohol and drugs consumption, the Survey will make a profile of Brazilian students’ life conditions. The questionnaire includes questions about the number of persons who live in the household, their personal and oral hygiene, physical activity, if they have ever used tobacco, among others. Students will also be weighed and measured.  

The students who will answer PENSE are currently taking the 8th or 9th grade of elementary school, in 1,507 schools selected from the register of MEC/2007 schools, on an average of 50 to 60 schools per state. The data collection staff will have 27 social area supervisors, 27 computer science supervisors and about 500 field surveyors. 

In this survey youngsters will answer the electronic questionnaire using a handheld computer (PDA); for this reason IBGE conducted, in 2008, successful pilot-tests in Rio de Janeiro, Recife and Luziânia. In these tests students had no difficulties in using the handheld computer to answer the survey. 

In order to clear doubts in relation to the PENSE collection, representatives of schools have been invited by IBGE to take part in a preparation meeting, which will be held in all the states, and in which technicians from the Institute will have one or two shifts t help students fill out their questionnaires. 

The individual data collected by IBGE (names of students and schools) used for the elaboration of the survey will be used exclusively for statistical purposes, not being identified or released under any circumstances.