{"id":2537,"date":"2024-04-25T15:35:05","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T15:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/25\/young-girls-in-uk-drink-smoke-and-vape-more-than-boys-says-study\/"},"modified":"2024-04-25T15:35:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T15:35:05","slug":"young-girls-in-uk-drink-smoke-and-vape-more-than-boys-says-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/25\/young-girls-in-uk-drink-smoke-and-vape-more-than-boys-says-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Young girls in UK drink, smoke and vape more than boys, says study"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Young girls in the UK drink, smoke and vape more than boys, a major study suggests.<\/p>\n

England is also “top of the charts” globally for child alcohol abuse, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) research of 44 countries.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers examined data on 280,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15.<\/p>\n

They found girls in the UK aged 13 and 15 tend to be drinking, smoking<\/strong> and vaping<\/strong> more than boys.<\/p>\n

And two-fifths of girls in England and Scotland have vaped by age 15, higher than in other countries such as France, Germany and Spain.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Researchers also found 30% of 15-year-old girls and 17% of 15-year-old boys in England had vaped in the past 30 days.<\/p>\n

Again, this was higher than children in several other countries, including Ireland, Canada, Portugal, Spain and Denmark.<\/p>\n

The study found girls were more likely to have used a vape by 15 than the average for all 44 countries studied – with vaping having now overtaken smoking.<\/p>\n

Listen above then tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Children aged 11 and 13 in England were also the most likely to have ever drunk alcohol compared with youngsters in all the other countries.<\/p>\n

And compared to other European nations, rates of drunkenness in the UK were high, particularly among girls.<\/p>\n

England tops the global chart at age 11, with 34% of girls and 35% of boys saying they have drunk alcohol, according to the WHO research.<\/p>\n

By 13, this rises to 57% of girls and 50% of boys – which again puts it top of all other nations studied.<\/p>\n

At age 15, 53% of girls said they had drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days, compared with 39% of boys.<\/p>\n

More than 4,000 children in England, and about the same number in Scotland, were surveyed – as well as a sample from Welsh schools.<\/p>\n

Children in Scotland and Wales were also more likely to have smoked cannabis than those in many other countries, with both in the top five globally.<\/p>\n

Data shows 15-year-old boys in Scotland have the highest rates overall for boys (23%), with only girls in Canada scoring higher (25%).<\/p>\n

‘A little bit concerning’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Jo Inchley, international coordinator for the study from the University of Glasgow, said some of the data was “a little bit concerning”.<\/p>\n

“Vaping in the UK is higher than the average across all the countries that took part in the survey as a whole,” she said.<\/p>\n

“So there’s two areas for concern.<\/p>\n

“One is that our levels are higher than elsewhere in Europe and, secondly, it looks like the trends are worsening quite substantially over a relatively short period of time in the UK.”<\/p>\n

A government spokesperson said: “The health advice is clear – smoking, vaping and underage drinking can be damaging for young people and their development.<\/p>\n

“That is why there are age restrictions on the sale of these products.<\/p>\n

“As a government, we are creating the UK’s first smoke-free generation.<\/p>\n

“Our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill will make it an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009 and includes powers to limit flavours, packaging and displays of vapes to reduce the appeal to children.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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