University of Waterloo compass study gets 5 more years to measure health of children

A four-year youth health study of unprecedented scope at the University of Waterloo is getting a five-year extension thanks to a $1.5-million grant from a federal health research agency.

Over the past four years, the compass study has tracked 50,000 Ontario and Alberta high school students in grades nine to 12 in order to examine what effect government health policies have on kids' health choices as they progress through school. 

It's the only study of its kind in the world, according to its head researcher Scott Leatherdale, who says that the four years worth of data his team has already collected can now enable them to track how some major upcoming shifts in health policy will affect Canadian youth over the next five years. 

Are initiatives working?

"For example, as the federal government changes legislation around marijuana use, we can actually say that this is having a positive or negative on youth based on the data we have," he said. 

"Or, as the province of Ontario makes changes to where alcohol is allowed to be sold ... now we can actually evaluate and say: 'What impact does that have on kids living in those communities as opposed to the communities where that didn't occur.'" 

Leatherdale points out that often when governments roll out new health policies or programs for youth, there's very little information out there to tell them whether its working. 

"This will be the first time where there will actually be really robust data," he said. "We can actually provide arm's-length evidence about whether the money the government is spending on these initiatives is working or not." 

Binge drinking common

While Leatherdale is coy about revealing what the four-year study has revealed so far about the state of health in children, he did acknowledge some interesting trends. 

Marijuana, for example, is more commonly used among high school students than cigarettes, according to Leatherdale, who added that the use of e-cigarettes is increasing dramatically among youth.

Leatherdale says the most prevalent health issue affecting children is binge drinking.

"Our Ontario and Alberta samples are incredibly high, especially when the students are in Grade 12," he said. 

"What's interesting is that's a domain where there is currently very little in place to try and protect kids from the harms of high-risk drinking."