This international report is the fourth from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, a WHO collaborative cross-national study, and the most comprehensive.

It presents the key findings on patterns of health among young people aged 11, 13 and 15 years in 41 countries and regions across the WHO European Region and North America in 2005/2006.

Its theme is health inequalities: quantifying the gender, age, geographic and socioeconomic dimensions of health differentials. Its aim is to highlight where these inequalities exist, to inform and influence policy and practice and to help improve health for all young people.

Findings include:

• More 15-year-old girls in Wales had tried cannabis than anywhere else in Europe.
• More young people in Wales have been drunk at least twice by the age of 13 than anywhere else in the western world.

The report can be downloaded from the World Health Organisation website.