UNICEF Reveals Surprising Fact About Kids In Rich Countries

[HuffingtonPost]

LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - The Netherlands ranks first and  Romania last among 29 developed countries examined in a UNICEF  report on the well-being of children that warns budget-slashing  governments to spare a thought for future generations.                

Nordic countries held the rest of the top five places in a  survey by the United Nations Children's Fund based on criteria  of material well-being, health and safety, education, behaviour  and risk, housing and environment.                

Britain was ranked 16th and the United States 26th.                

In its "Report Card 11: Child well-being in rich countries",  UNICEF urged governments to place children at the heart of their  decision-making in their efforts to slash national debt burdens.                

A 2008 financial crisis has led to austerity policies across  the West and bailouts for several European countries.                

"For every new policy measure considered or introduced,  governments explicitly have to explore the impact and effects on  children, families with children, adolescents and young adults,"  UNICEF research chief Gordon Alexander said in a statement.                

Examples of problems found by UNICEF included relatively  high rates of teenage births in the United States, Britain and  Romania, smoking rates of over 10 percent among children in  Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania  and Slovakia, and the provision of breakfast on a daily basis  for fewer than half the children in Romania and Slovenia.                

The report showed that per capita GDP, a standard measure of  national wealth, did not always translate into better overall  child well-being. It pointed out that 12th-placed Slovenia  ranked higher than a wealthier Canada at No. 17, while tiny  Portugal at No. 15 ranked higher than the United States.                

UNICEF said most of the data in the report was from 2010, so  it could not reflect on the outcome of decisions made since  then. But it said three years of economic hardship over that  time "do not bode well for the present or near future".                

On the "behaviours and risks" dimension of child well-being,  there is good news across the board, UNICEF said.                

"For instance: among 11-15 year-olds in the 29 countries  under review, only eight percent said they smoke cigarettes at  least once a week; just 15 percent reported having been drunk at  least twice in their life; 99 percent of girls do not get  pregnant whilst still a teenager."                

However, exercise levels are low, with the United States and  Ireland the only countries in which more than 25 percent of  children report exercising for at least an hour a day.                

Report Card 11 also included the views of children on their  own life satisfaction. These findings were broadly in line with  the data-based measurement of child well-being.                

"We need to know more about how children see and evaluate  their own lives," Alexander said.

Via: HuffingtonPost

[Shola Sholaz]

What UNICEF has revealed is the basic truth.I  believe them