Young girls drinking and smoking more than boys

Girls in the UK are drinking, smoking and vaping more than boys, while England is "top of the charts" globally for child alcohol use, a major report has found.

- JANE KIRBY

In one of the largest studies of its kind, the World Health Organisation (WHO) examined data from 280,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 44 countries who were asked about their use of cigarettes, vapes and alcohol.

The research showed:

– Girls aged 13 and 15 in the UK tend to be drinking, smoking and vaping more than boys across a broad pattern of behaviour.

– Two-fifths of girls in England and Scotland have vaped by the age of 15 – higher than in other countries such as France, Austria, Germany, Albania, Spain, Canada and Norway.

– Some 30 per cent of girls aged 15 and 17 per cent of boys aged 15 in England have vaped in the previous 30 days. This is higher than children in several other countries, including Ireland, Canada, Iceland, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Portugal.

– The UK seems to have more of an issue with under-age vaping than many other countries, with girls in the UK more likely to have used a vape by the age of 15 than the average for all 44 countries in the study. Vaping has overtaken smoking.

– Children aged 11 and 13 in England are the most likely to have ever drunk alcohol compared with youngsters in all the other countries surveyed. Compared with other European countries, rates of drunkenness in the UK were high, particularly among girls.

– At the age of 11, England tops the global chart, with 34% of girls and 35% of boys saying they have drunk alcohol.

– By 13, some 57 per cent of girls and 50 per cent of boys in England have drunk alcohol – again topping the global chart.

– At the age of 15, 53 per cent of girls in England have drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days, compared with 39% of boys.