Minority status and perceived health: a comparative study of Finnish- and Swedish-speaking schoolchildren in Finland

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of public health Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 179 - 187
• Main Authors: Suominen, Sakari B., Välimaa, Raili S., Tynjälä, Jorma A., Kannas, Lasse K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Sage Publications 01.07.2000
• Subjects: schoolchildren; perceived health; adolescents; ethnic minority; linguistic group
• ISSN: 1403-4948; 1651-1905
• DOI: 10.1177/14034948000280030601

Results of earlier studies suggest that the health of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland is better than that of the sociodemographically similar Finnish-speaking population. The causes of differences are unknown. The main aim of the study referred was to investigate whether differences in perceived health according to linguistic group were present in a nation-wide representative sample (n=5,230) of schoolchildren aged 11, 13 and 15 years. A further aim was to determine whether differences could be attributed to socioeconomic background, social relationships or health behaviour. The study is part of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged children (HBSC) survey. The perceived health of Swedish-speaking children (n=1,699) proved to be better than that of Finnish-speaking children (n=3,531). In multivariate logistic regression models the differences could not be attributed to underlying associations with any variable studied. The health advantage of Swedish-speaking children essentially could not be related to known risk factors.