If you find yourself fretting over your child's emotional wellbeing, physical health or lifestyle in general, you're most certainly not alone, but it looks like we may have less to worry about than we think if the results of a recent study are anything to go by.
The findings of a study, conducted on behalf of the World Health Organisation in 2013 and 2014, was launched in Brussels today and suggests that children in Ireland are less exposed to bullying and cyber bullying, and more likely to engage in physical activity than their European and North American counterparts.
Research, which was conducted by the Health Promotion Research Centre at NUI Galway, comprised the Irish contribution to 'Research for the International Health Behaviour in School-aged Children' and will signal welcome news for many parents in Ireland
According to the findings harnessed across 42 countries, the percentage of children in Ireland who were bullied at least two or three times a month in the past couple of months was below average. The percentage of children who had bullied others in the same time-frame was also considerably lower in Ireland compared to the other countries surveyed.
Further to this, researchers established that children in Ireland are less likely to watch more than two hours of television a day compared to their European and North American counterparts. And Irish teens are more likely to engage in physical activity for at least one hour - a figure which is not mirrored across the other participating countries.
In addition to this, the study revealed that children in Ireland consume more fruit and veg than most other countries, with Irish youngsters ranking 12 out of 42 while alcohol and tobacco use among children in Ireland is improving in comparison to other countries,
However, it isn't all good news, with figures indicating that children in Ireland don't feel as supported by their family and peers as adolescents in other countries, with Ireland ranking in the bottom four when it came to family support and bottom three when it comes to peer support.
The Irish research was funded by the Department of Health.
