Priority health risk behaviors (i.e. preventable behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality) are often established during childhood and adolescence and extend into adulthood. Ongoing surveillance of youth risk behaviors is critical for the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions to improve adolescent health. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national surveillance system that was established in 1991 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the prevalence of health risk behaviors among youth. The Nevada High School YRBS is a biennial, anonymous, and voluntary survey of students in 9th through 12th grade in regular public, charter, and alternative schools.

The survey asks students to self-report their behaviors in six major areas of health that directly lead to morbidity and mortality, these include: 1) Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; 2) Sexual behaviors that contribute to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, other sexually transmitted diseases, and unintended pregnancy; 3) Tobacco use; 4) Alcohol and other drug use; 5) Unhealthy dietary behaviors; and 6) Physical inactivity.

The Nevada High School YRBS provides prevalence estimates for priority risk behaviors and can be used to monitor trends over time.