This particular report gives the results of the fourth survey carried out since 1982, on schoolchildren in 24 countries in the European Region and Canada. This publication will be essential reading for health policy-makers, health educators and researchers in health promotion. While children's use of tobacco and alcohol increases with age, they exercise less as they grow older. Many children's diets are unhealthy and worsen with age. Injuries from leisure activities are high, particularly among those who play sports.
Girls find their teenage years more difficult than boys.
However, girls like school more than boys do. The report includes appendices on the school system in each country, the methodology used in the survey and the names of the principal investigators. Never before in peacetime has the convergence of political and economic change had such a powerful impact on the health and wellbeing of the 850 million people of the WHO European Region. Countries that have been insulated from such shifts now feel their effects. People who have always had jobs are frustrated in unemployment and bewildered about what action their governments should take.