Children feel less family support, more school pressure: WHO Europe

Youths in Europe, Canada and Central Asia feel less family support and more school pressure than before, the World Health Organization warned Wednesday, urging countries to improve teens' social environments.

The share of adolescents who report high levels of family support has fallen from 73 percent in 2022 to 67 per cent in 2018, with the drop even more pronounced among girls, from 72 to 64 per cent, the WHO Europe said.

Youths also increasingly report school pressure, it added.

In 2022, almost two-thirds of 15-year-old girls, 63 percent, said they felt pressured by schoolwork -- up from 54 percent in 2018 -- compared to 43 per cent of boys, up from 40 percent.

"Adolescents today are facing unprecedented challenges in their social environments, from declining support at home to increasing pressure at school, with potentially long-term consequences for their health and future life prospects," WHO Europe regional director Hans Kluge said in a statement.

Teens who report high levels of family support -- more likely to be found in more affluent families -- often have better mental health than those who report limited or nonexistent support, the WHO said.

The report also found that youths' peer support had declined, falling from 61 percent to 58 percent, and was most pronounced among girls, where it dropped from 67 percent to 62 percent.

"Girls are often caught between competing expectations of academic excellence and traditional social roles, while boys may face pressure to appear strong and self-reliant, discouraging them from seeking necessary support," one of the authors of the report, Irene García-Moya, said in the statement.