Young girls in UK drink, smoke and vape more than boys, says study
24 April 2024, 16:16 | Updated: 25 April 2024, 01:20
Young girls in the UK drink, smoke and vape more than boys, a major study suggests.
England is also "top of the charts" globally for child alcohol abuse, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) research of 44 countries.
In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers examined data on 280,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15.
They found girls in the UK aged 13 and 15 tend to be drinking, smoking and vaping more than boys.
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.
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.
Again, this was higher than children in several other countries, including Ireland, Canada, Portugal, Spain and Denmark.
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.
