Ireland has lowest rate of smoking among 15-year-olds in the EU, research shows

Eva Osborne

Ireland has the lowest rate of smoking among 15-year-olds in the EU, according to new research.

A new OECD report has found teenagers here also rank among the lowest rates in cannabis smoking, at four per cent.

While the rate of repeated drunkenness is also low, at 13 per cent.

The level of obesity among 15-year-olds in Ireland is one in five, slightly lower than the EU average of 21 percent.

However, the report also found that nearly half of teenagers here do not eat fruit or vegetables daily, below the average of 56 per cent.

The study ranks Ireland among the top five countries in the EU in the proportion of 15-year-olds meeting recommended physical activity levels.

Junior Health Minister, Colm Burke, said the results of the research are "very positive."