‘Well-being’ and ‘health’ are two terms that are well recognised. But do we all understand them to mean the same thing? When some people hear the word ‘well-being’, they will think of relaxing on the couch while others feel at their best when running a marathon. Most people use the word ‘health’ when they want to say that they do not have any pain and are not ill. However, health is much more than that; for example, your mind can also be healthy  or ill. In this section, therefore, we present our understanding of fundamental terms such as ‘well-being’ and ‘health’.

As social scientists, we want to find out how young people see themselves, how they act in certain circumstances, and how they view their interactions with and are shaped by their environment. We believe that it is very important to document how young people in Luxembourg evaluate their own well-being and health. Many scientific studies have shown that if you ask people how they would evaluate their own well-being and health, you receive a very good indication of how their well-being and health actually are – and how they will develop in the future. We have also shed light on young people’s social environment. Family, parents, friendships, school or workplace – we incorporate all of these aspects and many others into our description of the well-being and health of young people in Luxembourg. Our strategy for this is described in this section.