Alaska will not release statewide 2025 youth health survey results

Alaska will not release statewide findings from its 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, cutting off the only statewide measure school districts and grant writers use to describe the health of the state's high school students. District-level results for participating schools will still be released. The Alaska Division of Public Health announced the decision Wednesday.

"After reviewing the data, we found that the 2025 statewide results do not adequately represent high school students across Alaska," said Lindsey Kato, director of the Division of Public Health.

The statewide response rate fell to 29% in 2025. The 2017 survey reported an overall rate of 62%; the previous cycle, in 2023, did produce published statewide results. Schools from fewer than half of Alaska's boroughs and census areas participated in 2025, leaving several regions unrepresented. The division said its decision follows a determination by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that Alaska's statewide data should be interpreted with caution. Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous.

CDC no longer sets a minimum response rate. Since 2023 it has decided whether a state's data can be weighted to represent its students by testing for differences between responding and non-responding schools. Thirty-six states cleared that test in 2023.

"YRBS data is used to develop programs, seek funding, prepare grant applications, and evaluate services," Kato said. "We do not take this decision lightly, and we understand that it may affect work that is already underway."

The state's youth health numbers are under scrutiny. A state epidemiology bulletin published Aug. 24 reported that Alaska's youth suicide rate reached a 10-year high in 2025, with Alaska Native youth aged 10 to 18 dying by suicide at 47 per 100,000 against 9 per 100,000 for White youth. That same bulletin found Alaska recorded 174 youth suicide fatalities and 4,101 attempts among people ages 10 to 18 between 2016 and 2025.

Participation is falling nationally too: the 2025 national survey posted an overall response rate of 30.6%, down from 35.4% in 2023.

Kato said the division is preparing for the 2027 survey and will work with districts and families to raise participation. District-level 2025 findings and statewide results from earlier cycles remain on the state YRBS dashboard. The division also fills data requests at [email protected] and announces new data through an Alaska YRBS listserv.