The World Health Organization's report on children's health (Children Now, 9-15 June) seemed to confirm all the common criticisms of the UK's youngsters: they drink too much, have sex too early, take a lot of drugs and eat unhealthy food. The figures were also used in many quarters as an excuse to criticise Government policy.
But the Government's own statistics, collected through schools via questionnaires in a similar way to the WHO report, seem to broadly back up the headline figures in the report, which interviewed 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds in 35 countries.
For instance, Government figures from 2003 show that a quarter of 11- to 15-year-old pupils were weekly drinkers, compared to 31 per cent in the WHO report (a rise of six per cent from its previous survey four years ago).
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