Smoking by girls in Malta among Europe's highest

The percentage of smokers among 15-year-old girls in Malta is the third highest in Europe, a report issued earlier this week show .

The study, from the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examined the health of people in 31 countries, including the 27 European Union member states.

The report – Health at a glance – shows that just over 20% of Maltese aged over 15 smoke at least a cigarette per day . The average in the EU is 24.2 per cent with Greece topping the list at 39.9%.

In Malta, 26% of men and 16% of women were found to be smokers.

However, the figures were strikingly different with regard to 15-year-old smokers,

It was found that almost a quarter of 15-year-old girls and 19% of 15-year-old boys in Malta smoked.

That was in line with the EU average for boys but the incidence of smoking among girls was the third highest in Europe, after Bulgaria and Austria.

More than half of people in the European Union are overweight or obese and Britons are the fattest, a report said.

MALTESE ALSO AMONG THE FATTEST

The report also found that a quarter of adults in the UK are obese, ahead of Ireland (23%), Malta (22%), Iceland (20%) and Luxembourg (20%).

At the other end of the scale, 10% of Italians are obese, while the figure is 11% in Holland and France.

On average, just over 15% of the EU adult population is obese.

Research on drinking found that among 15-year-olds, 40% of those in the UK, Denmark, Lithuania, Finland, Bulgaria and Estonia reported having been drunk at least twice in their lifetime.

The EU average was 30% of girls and 38% of boys, with much lower rates in Malta, Greece, Portugal and Italy, as well as Switzerland and France.