SCHOOLCHILDREN IN Ireland are among the most physically active in the high-income countries of the world, according to an international study.
The study of teenage behaviour, published in medical journal the Lancet, compared the health and wellbeing of adolescents in 27 high-income countries. It found that Irish girls between the ages of 13 and 15 took more exercise than girls in any other country. Irish boys in the same age group were second only to boys in the US.
Health of the World’s Adolescents: a Synthesis of Internationally Comparable Data, published in the journal’s adolescent health issue, found that no more than 50 per cent of boys or girls achieved the recommended exercise level of 60 minutes a day in any country.
Rates of physical activity in many high-income countries were low, with Ireland, Slovakia and the US having higher rates, and Germany, Norway, Russia and Switzerland lower rates. Teenage boys in Norway and girls in France were found to take the least exercise.
Irish 13- to 15-year-olds were found to be among those less likely to be overweight, while boys in the Netherlands and girls in Switzerland were the least likely. Both boys and girls in the US were most likely to be overweight.
Other findings showed teenage Irish boys smoked more cannabis than their female counterparts, but far less than their peers in Canada and the US, where females and males, respectively, smoked the most. Belgian males and Finnish females were found to be the most abstinent.
The study found Austria, Ireland and the US had the highest binge-drinking rates, with close to a third of 15-year-olds reporting binge drinking in the past month.
The study, led by Prof George Patton of the University of Melbourne, Australia, found that Ireland, Finland and Norway were notable for high rates of suicide among adolescents. Greece, Italy and Spain had the lowest rates.
Mortality rates for Irish people between ages 10 and 24 were also high. These included deaths in car accidents and through intentional harm. Only Portugal, New Zealand and the US had a higher overall mortality rate for young people.
Irish males aged 15 to 24 were found more likely to die of violence than many other nationalities in the study. Only Switzerland, Canada, Israel and the US had higher rates than Ireland.