Cohort profile: the Korean Youth Health Behavior Panel Survey (KYHPS)

The identification of factors that predispose adolescents to adopt healthy lifestyles is essential because this developmental stage shapes long-term health trajectories. To address the lack of longitudinal data on adolescent health in Korea, the Korean Youth Health Behavior Panel Survey (KYHPS) was established in 2019. The KYHPS recruited 5,051 sixth-grade students from 260 elementary schools nationwide, excluding Jeju, and follows them annually for 10 years using a stratified multistage probability sampling design. Data were collected using tablet-assisted self-interviews, and the questionnaires were developed on the basis of the ecological model of health behaviors. The survey focused on 4 major domains-tobacco use, alcohol consumption, diet, and physical activity-along with psychosocial and contextual factors at the individual, family, peer, school, and community levels. Panel retention was 93.1% in Wave 2 and 82.0% in Wave 6. The KYHPS is the first national longitudinal survey specifically focused on adolescent health behaviors in Korea and provides a unique opportunity to examine health trajectories and their determinants across adolescence and into early adulthood, with important implications for prevention and policy.