Objective To conduct a meta-analysis of the prevalent characteristics of the injury-related behaviors among adolescents in China based on Chinese literature, so as to inform the prevention and control of injury-related behaviors of this population.

Methods A cross-sectional study on the prevalent characteristics of adolescent injury-related behaviors was conducted with the data collected from CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, CBM, PubMed, and Web of Science. The review included publications from the inception of the databases to November 2023. Meta-analysis was performed with Stata 15.1 software.

Results A total of 40 articles were included in this study, and the meta-analysis results showed that cycling violation rate was 38% (95%CI: 32%‒43%), walking violation rate was 29% (95%CI: 22%‒36%), rate of unsafe swimming was 13% (95%CI: 11%‒14%), suicidal ideation rate was 13% (95%CI: 12%‒15%) and the prevalence of fighting was 19% (95%CI: 17%‒22%). Subgroup analysis showed that the cycling violation rate was (44%) for boys and 34% (95%CI: 28%‒40%) for girls. Adolescents in Northeast, East, and Southwest of China had the highest rate of cycling violation (44%), of which junior high school students had the highest rate of violation 42% (95%CI: 36%‒49%). As for the walking violation rate, male students 29% (95%CI: 21%‒37%) was higher than that of female students 22% (95%CI: 15%‒30%). Adolescents in North of China had the highest rate of walking violation 54% (95%CI: 30%‒76%), of which vocational school students accounted for 38% (95%CI:21%‒56%) of the total violation. In terms of the detection rate of unsafe swimming, male students 18% (95%CI: 14%‒24%) was higher than that of female students 8% (95%CI: 6%‒10%). Adolescents in Central South China had the highest rate of unsafe swimming 15% (95%CI: 12%‒18%), of which, vocational school students accounted for the highest 15% (95%CI: 10%‒19%). When it comes to the prevalence of suicidal ideation, female students 16% (95%CI: 13%‒19%) was higher than that of male students 13% (95%CI: 11%‒15%). Adolescents in Southwest of China had the highest rate of suicidal ideation 17% (95%CI: 10%‒25%), of which high school students accounted for the highest 15% (95%CI: 12%‒18%). Finally, the detection rate of fights was 30% (95%CI: 26%‒34%) for boys and 11% (95%CI: 10%‒14%) for girls. Adolescents from Southwest of China had the highest rate 29% (95%CI: 24%‒34%) for fights, and junior high school students accounted for the highest 26% (95%CI: 22%‒31%).

Conclusion The prevalence of harmful behaviors among adolescents in China is notably high, with statistical differences across gender, region, and school stages. These behaviors pose a risk to adolescent health, underscoring the need for targeted interventions by health and educational authorities.