They like crisps, school and watching television but, according to a new international report on health behaviour among schoolage children, Irish adolescents don't like brushing their teeth.
It is teenagers in Wales who topped the table for beer-drinking, with 50 per cent consuming on a weekly basis. Next were Danish youths with 43 per cent, and halfway down the list were the Irish, ranked at No 13. At least that is what the survey results show. More than 120,000 11-, 13 and 15-year-olds from 29 countries, including the US, Canada and eastern, central and western Europe, took part in research for the Health and Health Behaviour Among Young People report. The Republic has the distinction of being one of only three states where over 50 per cent of pupils report eating cooked vegetables daily, but they also reported high levels of crisps, chips, sweets and chocolate consumption.
Irish children were also close to the top in terms of exercising twice or more a week.
"These results are important as they give the Irish findings context for policy makers", said Prof Cecily Kelleher of the Department of Health Promotion at NUI Galway.
It is the first international report where the behaviour of Irish children is directly compared to those in other countries, and with 4,394 Irish children questioned on a range of topics relating to health, this provides the most comprehensive picture of the lives of young people available to date.
Parents beware: students who watched more television were more likely to consume so-called junk food. Snack-food eating was linked more closely to watching television than to playing computer games.
More significantly, perhaps, is the finding that communicating with fathers is deemed to be more difficult than with mothers by 52 per cent of 15-year-olds in all countries.
Smoking and drinking among 15-year-olds did not appear to be associated with the socio-economic status of the family.
The main categories in the study were: general health and wellbeing of adolescents; family and peer relationships; school environment; adolescent health; exercise and leisure activities; dietary habits; body image; dental care; substance use; and sexual behaviour.