Children’s health survey results worrying, says Harris

More children are vaping than smoking or drinking, according to a new report. And, while fewer children are having sex, fewer of them are using contraception.

And, of the children polled for the HBSC (Health Behaviours in School-aged Children) 2018 Study, 7% of them reported using cannabis.

Simon Harris, the health minister, said some of the results are worrying, and he plans to introduce measures to deal with those later this year.

These will include banning the sale of e-cigarettes to children, which Mr Harris announced plans for last October.

At the time, Mr Harris said tobacco companies are working around the law to try to get another generation of people addicted to smoking.

He said: “The health and wellbeing of our children is a key indicator of the health of the nation, and I am pleased to see many positive trends.

“In particular, the good news around smoking and alcohol use by children which both continue to decline.

"However, the numbers of teenagers trying e-cigarettes and vaping products is a cause for concern and will be addressed by measures I will introduce in 2020, including new legislation to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to children under the age of 18.”

He added:

“However, I am struck by the finding that by far the most common source of alcohol for children is within their family home.

“This is an issue that all of us, as parents and adults in the lives of young people, need to reflect on.

We need to change our culture around alcohol in Ireland, if we are to reduce the corrosive effects alcohol has on so many young lives.

The rate of bullying others is stable, but the percentage of children reporting that they have been bullied is higher in 2018 than in 2014.

A new measure of cyberbullying was introduced in 2018, and the rates of cyberbullying are considerably lower than the rates of traditional bullying.

The study, which is published in 49 countries every four years in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe, is funded in Ireland by the Department of Health.

The survey of 15,500 children from 255 primary and post-primary schools was carried out by the Health Promotion Research Centre, NUI Galway, led by Saoirse Nic Gabhainn.