Save the Children Romania found that 26 percent of the boys and 11 percent of the girls in Romania smoked their first cigarette before the age of 13, while 6 percent of the boys aged between 11 and 15 smoke weekly. Moreover, 12 percent of Romania’s teenagers smoke cannabis.

The NGO recently launched a national health education program through which thousands of children in Romanian schools will learn how to make healthy choices for their lives.

According to the recent study, 19 percent of boys and 11 percent of girls drank alcohol for the first time before the age of 11. At 15, 36 percent of the boys consume alcohol weekly.

Over half of Romanian children don’t eat breakfast daily, shows the study. If at 11, half of boys eat vegetables at least once a week, at 15, the percentage drops to 18 percent.

Moreover, anxiety, depression, emotional and behavioral difficulties generate additional risks for 20 percent of the Romanian children.

The Healthy Choices (Alegeri Sanatoase) program aims to help at least 8,000 children in kindergartens, schools and high schools in Bucharest and 10 counties in Romania to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

The program will be conducted during a year by Save the Children Romania, in partnership with the National Anti-Drug Agency and the School for Health Association.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com