A survey of health behaviours of 11-18 year old school pupils in the Eastern Health Board (EHB) was carried out in November - December 1998 by the Board's Health Promotion Department. The study instrument and methods were similar to those of the 1998 national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study carried out by the Department of Health Promotion in the National University of Ireland, Galway, for the Department of Health and Children. In view of the size of the population of the EHB region (1.3 million) and because a large proportion of that population is comprised of young people, it was decided to carry out a regional survey to obtain data to guide further development and evaluation of health promotion services. The overall aim of the survey was to collect information on health behaviours and lifestyles of young people in the region. A random sample of schools was chosen, stratified by county and school type. Altogether 64 schools participated in the survey. 4750 school pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 completed the questionnaire of whom 52% were boys and 48% were girls.