[size=+1]UK teenage girls 'worst drunks'[/size]
Young teenagers in the UK are more likely to get drunk than anywhere else in the industrial world, shows an international survey.
Girls in particular have pushed up this level of drunkenness in the UK, says a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Among 15-year-olds, girls are more likely to have been drunk than boys.
But the report also says young people in the UK are materially well-off and enjoy a "high quality of school life".
The report from the OECD compares the well-being of young people living in the leading industrial economies.
This international comparison shows young people in the UK enjoying generous support as they grow up - with above-average state funding, a high quality of school life, below-average child poverty and low levels of bullying.
YOUNG PEOPLE'S WELL-BEING
• Worst drunkenness: UK
• Highest rate of bullying: Turkey
• Most affluent: Norway
• Best education: Finland
• Best local environment: Australia
• Least exercise: Switzerland
• Best housing: Norway
• Least risk: Sweden
• Highest suicide rate: New Zealand
• Enjoy school most: Turkey
• Enjoy school least: Czech Republic
But in their personal lives, the UK youngsters are characterised by alcohol abuse and high rates of teenage pregnancy.
Drunkenness in the UK is the highest among 24 OECD countries, measured in terms of the proportion of 13 and 15-year-olds having been drunk at least twice.
The UK's figure for these under-age drunks - 33% - is more than double the rate for countries such as the United States, France and Italy.
Among girls the gap between the UK and other countries is even wider.
One in five 13-year-olds in the UK report having been drunk twice - four times higher than countries such as the United States, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Among 15-year-old girls in the UK, 50% reported getting drunk, almost three times higher than their counterparts in France. The rate for boys in the UK in this age group getting drunk is 44%.
The report published by the OECD is based on figures gathered in 2005-06. More recent figures from the NHS, published in July, suggest that more 11 to 15-year-olds are not drinking any alcohol - but those who do drink are consuming more.
While the OECD highlights the problems with drinking and teenage pregnancy, it also presents a positive picture of the support available to people growing up in the UK.
It says that relative to other countries, children here are "materially fairly well-off".
And that "average family income is higher and child poverty is lower than OECD averages".
It says that children in the UK also enjoy a high quality of school life and enjoy school much more than many of their international counterparts.
Also bullying is less frequent and teenage suicides are less common in the UK than in most other industrialised countries.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/education/8227443.stm
Published: 2009/09/01 09:02:48 GMT
© BBC MMIX
Young teenagers in the UK are more likely to get drunk than anywhere else in the industrial world, shows an international survey.
Girls in particular have pushed up this level of drunkenness in the UK, says a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Among 15-year-olds, girls are more likely to have been drunk than boys.
But the report also says young people in the UK are materially well-off and enjoy a "high quality of school life".
The report from the OECD compares the well-being of young people living in the leading industrial economies.
This international comparison shows young people in the UK enjoying generous support as they grow up - with above-average state funding, a high quality of school life, below-average child poverty and low levels of bullying.
YOUNG PEOPLE'S WELL-BEING
• Worst drunkenness: UK
• Highest rate of bullying: Turkey
• Most affluent: Norway
• Best education: Finland
• Best local environment: Australia
• Least exercise: Switzerland
• Best housing: Norway
• Least risk: Sweden
• Highest suicide rate: New Zealand
• Enjoy school most: Turkey
• Enjoy school least: Czech Republic
But in their personal lives, the UK youngsters are characterised by alcohol abuse and high rates of teenage pregnancy.
Drunkenness in the UK is the highest among 24 OECD countries, measured in terms of the proportion of 13 and 15-year-olds having been drunk at least twice.
The UK's figure for these under-age drunks - 33% - is more than double the rate for countries such as the United States, France and Italy.
Among girls the gap between the UK and other countries is even wider.
One in five 13-year-olds in the UK report having been drunk twice - four times higher than countries such as the United States, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Among 15-year-old girls in the UK, 50% reported getting drunk, almost three times higher than their counterparts in France. The rate for boys in the UK in this age group getting drunk is 44%.
The report published by the OECD is based on figures gathered in 2005-06. More recent figures from the NHS, published in July, suggest that more 11 to 15-year-olds are not drinking any alcohol - but those who do drink are consuming more.
While the OECD highlights the problems with drinking and teenage pregnancy, it also presents a positive picture of the support available to people growing up in the UK.
It says that relative to other countries, children here are "materially fairly well-off".
And that "average family income is higher and child poverty is lower than OECD averages".
It says that children in the UK also enjoy a high quality of school life and enjoy school much more than many of their international counterparts.
Also bullying is less frequent and teenage suicides are less common in the UK than in most other industrialised countries.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/education/8227443.stm
Published: 2009/09/01 09:02:48 GMT
© BBC MMIX
