Children in Ireland are more likely to have three or more friends than any of their peers throughout 35 WHO countries, according to figures included in the newly published the State of the Nation's Children Report.
Speaking at the announcement of the publication today Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan, described the figures, taken from the Health Behaviour of School-going Children (HBSC)survey (2002), as "a groundbreaking development in understanding children's lives".
'We know from the research literature that peer relationships have a profound long-term effect on children's lives," he added.
Mr Lenihan noted that the HBSCsurvey also found that 89.5 per cent of children aged 10-17 years reported being happy with their lives. More boys reported being happy than girls but younger girls were the happiest of all.
Ireland's young people, under 18-years-old, account for 28 per cent of the population - the highest in the EU. The State of the Nation's Children Reportexamines 48 different aspects of their lives, from 22 different data sources. As well as the HBSC survey, information from the Central Statistics Office, administrative data sources and surveys of young people in Ireland were all used.
Mr Lenihan pointed out that the report contained some contradictions which required consideration. One was that Irish children did comparatively very well academically while having fairly low attendance at school rates.
Irish children have the 5th highest literacy levels across 29 OECD countries, while in maths and science they are about average. Girls reading scores are much higher than boys, although boys are slightly higher than girls in maths.
At the same time 14.9 per cent of primary school children in urban areas were absent ofr 20 days or more in 2005-2005.
Mr Lenihan also highlighted the fact that Irish children do well in terms of physical activity, ranking ranking second across the WHO. 57.7 per cent of boys and 39 per cent of girls reported being physically active for more than 4 hours a week. Younger children (59.8 per cent) are more likely to report this than older ones (38 per cent).
Yet 6.7 per cent of children reported smoking daily, 24th out of 35 WHO countries, and binge drinking and illicit drug use amongst 15-year-olds is 3rd highest in Europe, with 40 per cent reported having used an illicit drug in their lifetime.
Dr Sinéad Hanafin, Head of Research at the Office of the Minister for Children (OMC), one of the authors of the report, noted more key findings:
- The percentage of babies born at low birth weight is 5.1 per cent and compares favourably with the EU average of 6.4 per cent
- Breastfeeding rates on discharge from hospital are still low at 44.5 per cent compared with international data, but they have increased each year since 1999
- The percentage of children who found it easy to talk to their mother was just under 80 per cent, which is slightly less than the international average of 82.7 per cent
- 56 per cent of children reported that it was easy to talk to their fathers, compared with the WHO average of 64 per cent
- 26 per cent of children reported to having been bullied, compared with an average of 33.5 per cent in other WHO countries
- Youth suicides account for 22 per cent of all deaths in the 10-17 age group
- In 2004 495 children were reported to the HSE as homeless, 43 per cent of those were in the Eastern Area Health Authority.
- Although real non-capital expenditure on education increased by 112 per cent per student in the first level and 91 per cent in second level, beyween 1996 and 2005, Ireland's spending on education is the 5 thlowest in the EU.
The State of the Nation's Childrenreport is part of a worldwide attempt to measure the well-being of children such as the UNICEF report published last week, which drew on work undertaken by the OMC.
Although much of the data in the report is previously published, this is the first time that the information has been compiled into a single document. Additional analysis was undertaken on some data, so that where possible, gender, geographic, age and time trends could be taken into account.
Mr Lenihan said: "This report provides a comprehensive picture of children's lives and acts as a benchmark for the future. It is to be greatly welcomed and shows that while there are some areas where children in Ireland need greater support, there are many areas where children in Ireland are doing very well."