YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

348 It is therefore not surprising that, over the last ten years, there has been a significant decline in young people’s overall satisfaction with life. The proportion of young people who are mostly or very satisfied with their health has also fallen significantly. This is not surprising in light of the fact that the proportion of young people with an unhealthily high body mass index has increased significantly, and our study found a significant increase in the proportion of undernourished adolescents, and especially adolescent girls. All these trends clearly show that young people’s health, especially mental health, is now emerging as one of the key challenges for youth policy. It is somewhat surprising that young people themselves are increasingly concerned about their own health. Compared to a decade ago, young people on average drink significantly less alcohol and smoke less tobacco, eat more healthily, and take part in (even more) sport. It seems clear that campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles will not be enough to reverse the general trend of declining psycho-physical health among young people. While these are undoubtedly important, in this context it is necessary to reflect on the broader social conditions in which young people grow up. Young people no longer tend to think much about broader social issues, since the youth values and interests that have dominated for at least 20 years are elements of the private sphere, such as friendship and family. Over the last decade, the trend towards individualisation and an in- creasing tendency towards autonomy has continually been reflected in young people’s values and attitudes. In this context, there has also been a marked increase in liberal values among young people, with young people rejecting obedience as a value in child-rearing to a much greater extent than ten years ago and accepting same-sex parenting to a much greater extent. Consistent with these value trends is the finding that young people in Slovenia are moving away from Catholicism at an accel- erated pace. Of course, the liberalization of young people’s values does not necessari- ly mean that they live in a very tolerant and open society. In our sample, for example, most homosexually oriented young people report that they