According to the report prepared by UNICEF, Spain is the sixth best country in the world for living in of children and adolescents. Based on criteria for physical and mental health, as well as social skills, the first place of this ranking was taken by the Netherlands, followed by Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Finland. In total, the study, which was conducted for the 20th time, covered 38 countries of the world.
The authors of the report note that overweight and obesity is a major problem of those living in highly developed countries in the age category 5-9 years. In Spain, which ranks only 23rd in physical health, this problem is seen in 34% of children and adolescents.
At the same time, Spain ranks third in both social skills and mental health. In particular, 81.7% of Spanish teenagers over 15 years are very happy with their lives, while the average of them is 75.7%. In Spain, suicide rates among minors per 100 thousand people don’t exceed 2.6%, which is 2.5 times lower than the global average.
It should be taken into consideration that the UNICEF study was conducted before the covid-19 pandemic, when daily life of the younger generation was far from «happy childhood» in the usual sense of the term. As noted by Javier Martos, Executive Director of the organization, there is reason to believe that measures taken by many governments to control the spreading of coronavirus may lead to aggravating the situation.
