Smoking and drinking among young people at lowest level on record

Young people in England born since the turn of the century are the most clean-living generation in recent times, with the rates of those choosing to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol the lowest on record.

Fewer than 5% of children aged eight to 15 have smoked, down three-quarters since 2003, while only about 17% admitted ever drinking alcohol, a fall of two-thirds, according to an annual survey of health trends.

At the same time, the proportion claiming to eat five portions of fruit and veg has almost doubled in the same period to a fifth. Despite that, 28% of children aged two to 15 were overweight or obese in 2015, and only one in five were as physically active as they ought to have been.

Nine in 10 mothers and eight in 10 fathers of overweight children did not recognise the problem, according to the Health Survey for England 2015, published by NHS Digital on Wednesday, with charities warning that obesity is still an urgent public health epidemic.

The dramatic fall in the number of young smokers follows a cultural shift in the perception of smoking, as well as significantly tighter restrictions on tobacco sales.

In the past decade, the government raised the legal age for buying tobacco from 16 to 18, banned smoking in enclosed public spaces, introduced graphic health warnings and introduced rules that hide tobacco products from view in shops.

At the same time, off-licences have become far stricter about sales to teenagers, and bars and clubs have introduced stringent ID requirements for entry.

Gillian Prior, the head of health at the National Centre for Social Research, which carried out the survey of 8,034 adults and 5,714 children on behalf of the NHS, said: “Changes to the law mean that under-18s are prohibited from buying cigarettes and the Challenge 25 policy adopted by many retailers has meant that these laws are more rigorously enforced than they have been in the past.

“But we should not underestimate the importance of changes in the nature of childhood; changes in technology and society mean that teenagers in particular spend their time in a very different way compared to teenagers 15 years ago.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “We are committed to helping people lead healthier lives so it is encouraging to see a decline in smoking rates and fewer children drinking alcohol.

“However, this survey reaffirms that we can’t let up in our efforts to tackle childhood obesity – and we are confident our world leading plan will make a real difference in the long term.”

Smoking and drinking among young people at lowest level on record