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.

"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, down from 62% in 2017. Schools from fewer than half of Alaska's boroughs and census areas participated, leaving several regions unrepresented, and the CDC found the state's data should be interpreted with caution. The previous cycle, in 2023, did produce published statewide results. The CDC no longer sets a minimum response rate; since 2023 it has tested whether a state's numbers can stand in for its students, and 36 states passed that test in 2023.

Kato said the survey is used to build programs, seek funding, prepare grant applications and evaluate services, and that the division understands the decision may affect work 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 at 47 per 100,000 against 9 per 100,000 for White youth. That same bulletin counted 174 youth suicide deaths 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.