Background: A study was made of the role of the school in the process of social equalization in the health of pre-adolescents and adolescents in the city of Bern, Switzerland.
Methods: Questionnaire data obtained from 578 13-year-olds and 476 15-year-olds within the frame of the evaluation of a health-promoting schools project were transformed to 30 indicators of well-being at school, health, emotional well-being, life-skills, and health behaviour and attitudes.
Results: Multiple logistic regression with gender, social class, ethnicity, and school climate as independent variables revealed the disappearance of social gradients by 15 years of age and the emergence of new inequalities related mainly to gender and school climate.
Conclusions: The school contributes to the social equalization of the health of adolescents but creates at the same time new disparities, with probably long-lasting consequences. The factors determining the school climate have to be studied more in depth.