Western Correspondent
New research has shown a significant decrease in the number of children smoking and drinking over a 20-year period to 2018.
But there has been an increase in the number trying to lose weight and more children say they feel low at least once a week.
The Health Behaviour in School Aged Children report compares studies from 1998 with follow up surveys in 2018. It was overseen by the Health Promotion Research Centre in NUI Galway.
The data has been gathered from questionnaires completed by more than 15,000 school pupils, aged between ten and 17. This takes in children in fifth class, to students in fifth year of secondary school.
Significant drop in number of children drinking and smoking in the last two decades
More children reported feeling low and being on a diet compared with 1998. By Press Association Monday 8 Mar 2021, 2:29 PM Mar 8th 2021, 12:41 PM 16,151 Views 30 Comments
Image: PA
Updated Mar 8th 2021, 2:29 PM
THERE HAS BEEN a significant drop in the number of children drinking and smoking in the last 20 years, research has shown.
There has also been a decline in the number of young people taking cannabis across genders, ages and social classes.
The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Trends Report (HBSC) found that, between 2002 and 2018, there was a statistically significant decrease in the proportion of young people aged 15 to 17 who had ever smoked who reported having had their first cigarette at the age of 13 or younger.
Alcohol consumption in early adolescence: Associations with sociodemographic and psychosocial factors according to gender
Camille Pedroni , Roles Data curation, Resources, Writing – review & editing
Affiliations Service d Information, Promotion, Éducation Santé (SIPES), Research Centre in “Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Clinical Research”, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium, Research Centre in “Social Approaches to Health”, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium ⨯
Thérésa Lebacq, Roles Data curation, Investigation, Writing – review & editing
Affiliation Service d Information, Promotion, Éducation Santé (SIPES), Research Centre in “Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Clinical Research”, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium