Experts point to decline of gender stereotypes as drinking and smoking among girls in Great Britain causes concern

In 2000, about 19% of children under 16 in England smoked, according to Action on Smoking and Health. By 2018, this had declined to 5%.

But, according to a major report by the World Health Organization released on Thursday, a third of 11-year-olds and over half of 13-year-olds had drunk alcohol, the highest number of any country worldwide. Girls were found to be more likely than boys to have drunk at the age of 15.

Although the findings have caused concern, experts say rates of youth drinking have still been sharply declining. Dr Katherine Severi, the chief executive of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said that, although the findings from the WHO report were troubling, it “should be acknowledged that youth drinking has declined sharply from highs around the year 2000, particularly drinking among boys”.

She added: “We still don’t know exactly what is driving this trend, but research suggests young people are socialising in different ways and better recognise the health harms of alcohol.”

Severi said that the evidence was clear on what could further be done to discourage alcohol consumption, particularly among young people, across the UK.

“We have known for decades how to reduce alcohol harm: reduce its affordability through duty increases and minimum pricing policies, give local areas control over its availability and restrict alcohol marketing,” Severi said. “We know that alcohol marketing leads to children starting to drink from an earlier age and at heavier levels than they would have done.”

The report also found that the proportion of 15-year-old girls in England who had ever smoked had risen from 20% in 2018 to 28% in 2022. But, for boys, the trend was reversed, with 25% of boys having smoked in 2018 in England dropping to just 16% in 2022.

Dr Sabina Hulbert, a senior research fellow at the University of Kent, said that the rise in smoking among young girls in England, but not boys, could be because of the decline of gender stereotypes in modern society.

“What we think is probably leading that gender inversion in trend is that social stereotypes are diminishing, and gender stereotypes are being overcome, meaning that gender equality is much more achieved nowadays,” Hulbert said. “But with that comes the risk of girls wanting to do what boys did, and almost wanting to catch up and to show that they can, and that because boys do it so can we.”

The analysis also found that 40% of girls in England and Scotland had vaped before 15, and did so at a higher rate than countries such as France and Germany. Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said that the rise in vaping among young people could be related to children being exposed to these products online, as well as them being marketed directly to children.

He said: “Considering that the brain continues to develop well into a person’s mid-20s, adolescents need to be protected from the effects of toxic and dangerous products.

“Unfortunately, children today are constantly exposed to targeted online marketing of harmful products, while popular culture, like video games, normalises them.”

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Dr Jo Inchley a reader at the University of Glasgow, said the availability of vapes could be part of the rise. She said: “Disposable vapes seem to be fairly readily accessible to young people, and schools are reporting that’s a major issue they’re having to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Young people are telling us that too.

“Having ready access to any kind of substance like that obviously makes it more attractive and available, so that is a big issue.”