In 2024, 18.5% of students reported having experienced a situation in which someone touched, manipulated, kissed or exposed parts of their body against their will at some point in their lives. This type of violence was most reported by girls, as 26.0% of them have experienced this situation of harassment at some time in their lives. This percentage is more than double that recorded for boys (10.9%).

This is information from the 5th edition of the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE), carried out in 2024 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MS) and with the support of the Ministry of Education (MEC), which interviewed students aged 13 to 17 years, from public (84.3%) and private (15.7%) schools from the 7th to the 9th year of Primary Education and from the 1st to 3rd year of Secondary School.

The comparison with the 2019 results showed an increase of 3.8 p.p. in the percentage of students aged 13 to 17 years who have ever suffered sexual harassment, the variation being more pronounced for girls (5.9 p.p.) and public-school students (4.2 p.p.). Situations of sexual harassment were most reported by teenagers aged 16 and 17 years (20.9%), whereas in the 13 to 15 age group the percentage of those who experienced this situation was 17.1%.

The survey also showed that, in general, Brazilian teenagers were less satisfied with their body image, with successive drops demonstrated in the editions of PeNSE in 2015 (70.2%), 2019 (66.5%) and 2024 (58.0%).

Regarding the consumption of psychoactive substances, the data indicate a reduction in the use of cigarettes, alcohol and illicit drugs between 2019 and 2024.

In the field of mental health, four out of six indicators evaluated showed an improvement compared to 2019, contradicting expectations of post-pandemic worsening.

In sexual health, there was a delay in sexual initiation: 35.4% in 2019 to 30.4% in 2024 and a reduction in the use of condoms.

Increase in the percentage of teenagers victims of sexual violence. Among the 1.1 million teenagers who reported forced sexual intercourse, the majority were 13 years old or younger when they experienced violence.

Girls are the biggest victims of bullying in the school environment

The data revealed that, in Brazil, 59.7% of students declared that they had not suffered bullying, while 27.2% reported having suffered two or more times, which indicated that more than a quarter of students experienced recurring bullying situations in the last 30 days prior to the survey.

Comparing the 2019 and 2024 editions, there is a tendency for an increase in the percentage of students reporting being bullied in Brazil, rising from 23.0% (2019) to 27.2% (2024).

Regarding data by sex, 62.7% of boys and 56.7% of girls declared that they did not suffer bullying. Girls (30.1%) had a higher percentage in reporting that they felt humiliated by provocations from colleagues, twice or more, showing greater vulnerability, with a difference of 5.8 percentage points. compared to boys (24.3%).

In general, the data revealed that, in Brazil, 13.7% of students declared having practiced bullying in the last 30 days prior to the survey. Of this total, 16.5% were boys and 10.9% were girls, revealing that boys practiced bullying more frequently, with a difference of 5.6 p.p. in relation to girls.

When we analyze victimization and the practice of bullying, the percentage of victims is almost twice (27.2%) the percentage of declared abusers (13.7%). Girls are more bullied (30.1%), while boys practice more bullying (16.5%). As for schools, the percentages of public-school students (27.2%) and private schools (27.5%) who suffer and the percentages of public-school students (13.6%) and private schools (14.0%) who practice it, have minimal differences, both for victims and abusers, showing that bullying is a transversal problem, present in both school contexts.

Bullying on social media affects nearly 1 out of 8 teenagers

PeNSE has been investigating the threat of cyberbullying suffered by schoolchildren since the last edition and, in this version, also included the question about the practice of cyberbullying by schoolchildren.

Data from the 2024 edition revealed that bullying on social media affected nearly 1 out of 8 teenagers in Brazil. National results showed that 12.7% of teenagers reported having suffered bullying on social media, with girls (15.2%) being more affected than boys (10.3%). Students in public schools (13.4%) reported suffering on-line bullying more than those in private schools (9.4%). Indicating that gender and administrative dependency of the school are relevant factors in exposure to virtual bullying.

Regarding the practice of Internet bullying declared by schoolchildren, we can infer that, on average, one out of ten teenagers admitted to having practiced cyberbullying. The national results showed that 10.0% of teenagers said they had been bullied on social media. The data indicates that there are more victims (12.7%) than declared abusers (10.0%).

The practice is more common among boys (11.6%) than among girls (8.4%). The difference between the public network (9.9%) and private network (10.3%) was small, indicating relatively widespread behavior in both administrative dependencies.

Computers and tablets are part of the school life of 68.5% of students aged 13 to 17 years

The result of PeNSE 2024 showed that the library was a resource available to 78.4% of students in schools that reported having this facility in usable conditions. Regarding the administrative dependency of the school, 77.5% of students in the public network and 83.3% of students in the private network had a library in their schools.

The data also revealed that, in Brazil, 68.5% of students aged 13 to 17 years were in schools that had computers and/or tablets intended for individual student use. It is observed that the public network (69.3%) presented a higher percentage than the private network (64.2%).

Industrialized and ultra-processed products are present in the diet of 40% of those surveyed

Only 75.9% of students aged 13 to 17 years consumed more than three glasses of water the previous day. Important variations by sex (boys: 81.3%; girls: 70.6%) and administrative dependence of the school (public: 75.0% and private: 81.0%).

Estimates for healthy eating markers (MAS) and ultra-processed foods (AUP) reveal the majority consumption of rice, pasta and green corn (80.8%) and meat (74.9%) among students aged 13 to 17 years on the day before the survey. In contrast, vegetables were consumed by less than 1/3 of the informants. The consumption of industrialized desserts, ultra-processed breads, soft drinks, savory biscuits and sweets was reported by more than 40.0% of youngsters.

Series and films take up two hours of a student’s life every day

In 2024, more than 1/3 of Brazilian schoolchildren spent more than two hours a day watching films, series, soap operas and other programs on digital video platforms or on television. Another 44.5% used to sit and perform various activities, an estimate 21.3% higher than screen time.

Cumulative physical activity

Estimates of cumulative physical activity time for students aged 13 to 17 years added up to 9.7% inactive, 58.4% insufficiently active and 30.6% active.

Equipment for physical activity is accessible to 68.0% of students

The indicator of cumulative physical activity has been investigated in PeNSE since its first edition in 2009. It is obtained by summing up the physical activity times reported by students in the week prior to the survey in eight questions that cover three areas of physical activity: commuting between home and school, physical education classes at school and extracurricular physical activities.

Even though more than 90.0% of Brazilian schoolchildren had access to school physical practices guided by a physical education teacher, in 2024, the material and equipment necessary to carry out these activities was accessible to only 68.0% of them, mainly due to the low percentage of public-school students (62.7%).

Research records increase in electronic cigarette use

Regarding the consumption of psychoactive substances, the data indicated a reduction in the use of cigarettes, alcohol and illicit drugs between 2019 and 2024, but a worrying increase in the use of electronic cigarettes, whose sale is prohibited in Brazil. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that such products have been aggressively targeted at young people, and pose a threat to progress in tobacco control.

Brazil, in accordance with the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC/WHO), of which Brazil is a signatory, ratifies the ban on the trade of tobacco products to children under 18 years of age. Furthermore, Brazilian legislation prohibits the manufacture, import, marketing, advertising and distribution of electronic cigarettes in accordance with resolutions of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) of 2024, reinforcing the 2009 ban.

Electronic cigarette experimentation increased from 16.8% in 2019 to 29.6% in 2024. This experimentation is more frequent among girls (31.7%) than among boys (27.4%) and among students in public schools (30.4%) than those in private schools (24.9%). This growth occurred across the board in all Brazilian Major Regions, with the Central-West (42.0%) and South (38.3%) having the highest percentages and the Northeast (22.5%) and North (21.5%) with the lowest ones.

Regarding the recent consumption of other tobacco products, measured by the type of tobacco product used in the 30 days prior to the survey, an important change is also observed, which increased by more than 300.0% in the case of electronic cigarettes (from 8.6% to 26.3%) and reduced by half for hookah consumption (from 23.8% to 10.6%). While the number of students who declared that they did not use other tobacco products remained virtually unchanged (62.3% in 2024 and 61.7% in 2019).

Cigarette experimentation among students aged 13 to 17 years who had smoked cigarettes at some point in their lives was 18.5%. Experimentation with alcoholic beverages was 53.6% in the same age group, ranging from 46.4% among students aged 13 to 15 years, reaching 66.3% among students aged 16 and 17 years.

In 2024 drug experimentation fell to 8.3%, a number below previous editions, where in 2015 it was 12.0% and, in 2019, 13.0%.

61.7% of teenagers used a condom during their first sexual intercourse

In 2024, the percentage of students aged 13 to 17 years who had already had sexual intercourse was 30.4%, which represented a reduction of 5.0 p.p. compared to 2019. A significant portion of adolescents did not use condoms during their first sexual intercourse, as the percentage of use was 61.7%.

Also, one out of three schoolchildren aged 13 to 17 years who had already started having sex had used the morning-after pill at some point in their lives. Data from PeNSE recorded that 121 thousand girls aged 13 to 17 years have already become pregnant, which represented 7.3% of those who have already started their sexual life. Of this total, 98.7% were from public schools.

26.7% increase in the percentage of teenagers aged 13 to 17 years who have already suffered sexual harassment

In 2024, the results indicated that 12.5% ​​of students stopped going to school due to a lack of safety on the way from home to school or from school to home in the 30 days prior to the survey. The percentage of students in the public-school network who went through this type of situation (13.8%) was more than double that observed in the private school network (5.4%).

The percentage of students who were involved in physical fights increased by 0.6 p.p. This type of behavior was more prevalent among male students (15.8%) and public-school students (11.7%).

Furthermore, 18.5% of students reported having experienced a situation in which someone touched, manipulated, kissed or exposed parts of their body against their will at some time in their lives. This type of violence was most reported by girls, as 26.0% of them have experienced this situation of harassment at some time in their lives. This percentage is more than double that recorded for boys (10.9%).

The comparison with the 2019 results showed that there was an increase of 3.8 p.p. in the percentage of teenagers aged 13 to 17 years who have ever suffered sexual harassment, the variation being more pronounced for girls 5.9 p.p. and for public school students 4.2 p.p.

19.4% of students aged 13 to 17 years said they had a toothache

Excluding toothache caused by orthodontic appliances, 19.4% of students aged 13 to 17 years said they had had toothache in the six months prior to the survey in 2024. In the same period, more than a third of students in the same age group did not go to the dentist once in the 12 months prior to the survey (34.5%). Moreover, 68.9% had a daily toothbrushing frequency equal to or greater than three times.

Absence in the classroom due to lack of sanitary pads affects more girls in public schools

The results indicated that most adolescents had the habit of washing their hands with soap three or more times a day (76.0%).

The survey also found that 15.3% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 years stopped going to school at least one day in the 12 months prior to the survey due to a lack of sanitary pads. In the public-school network, 16.9% of girls missed classes due to the lack of this hygiene item, the percentage of which was more than double that seen for girls in the private school network (6.4%).

58% of students declared themselves ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with their own body image

When considering “feelings about one’s own body”, of the total number of teenagers in the sample for the age group from 13 to 17 years old, 58.0% of them declared themselves ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with their own body image; 27.2% said they were ‘very dissatisfied’ or ‘dissatisfied’ and 14.0% claimed ‘indifference’.

As for the indicator “attitude towards own body weight” for the age group of 13 to 17 years old, the responses of Brazilian adolescents showed that 36.3% of them were not doing anything to change their own weight.

In 2024, it is interesting to note that for the age group from 13 to 15 years, the percentage of teenagers who said they did not have close friends was 3.9% while the percentage for the 16 and 17 years old group was 5.5%, that is, as the age of students increases, the absence of close friends becomes more frequent.

In 2024, the percentage of students who responded ‘most of the time’ or ‘always’ for the feeling of sadness reported in the last 30 days was 28.9%. When the results for this indicator were compared with those of the survey carried out in 2019 (31.4%), a decrease of 2.5 p.p. was noted in the reported frequency of sadness among teenagers in Brazil.

For the indicator ‘nobody cares about him,’ the percentage of students who reported feeling this way, ‘most of the time’ or ‘always,’ in the last 30 days, was 26.1%.

Regarding concern about common everyday things, almost half of the Brazilian teenagers (49.7%) between 13 and 17 years claimed to feel this way 'most of the time' or 'always', in the 30 days prior to the survey.

Considering ‘life is not worth living,’ 18.5% of adolescents said they had felt this way ‘most of the time’ or ‘always,’ in the 30 days prior to the survey.

The percentage of students who responded that they felt like hurting themselves on purpose, in the 12 months prior to the survey, was 32.0%.

Psychological support reaches 47.7% of students

In 2024, the results of PeNSE indicated that 66.6% of students aged 13 to 17 years considered their health status to be very good and good. When it comes to vaccination, only 54.9% of schoolchildren were vaccinated against HPV, and 84.1% had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Furthermore, 38.0% of students were in schools where there was a group or committee responsible for guiding and coordinating health-related actions. The percentage of students in public schools who had joined the School Health Program (PSE) was 53.4%.

The results showed that 70.8% of students were in schools that carried out educational activities on pregnancy prevention. In the public network, the percentage of students in schools that carried out this type of action was higher than that observed in the private network (75.7% versus 45.0%).

It is worth highlighting that, in 2024, PeNSE innovated by including information about the existence of some psychological support at school for students, teachers and staff in cases of bullying and violence. The results showed that 47.7% of students were in schools with some type of support. Students in private schools had a higher percentage (58.2%) compared to public schools (45.8%).