A new study has revealed that Irish and US teens are most likely to die young. The study looked at teenage behavior in developed, higher income countries.
The results showed that the teens in these countries tend to live fast and die younger than in other countries.
According to the report, Irish and Americans aged 10-24 are more likely to die violent deaths due to their overindulgence of pot and alcohol.
This is the second Lancet, “Adolescent Health Series” [subscription], by the British medical journal. The series looks at the problems faced by the 1.8 billion young people around the world.
The series said it’s time to “put the young person, not the specific issue, center stage."
The editors of the study said that adolescent health is still a “marginalized sub-speciality” and said it must be elevated into “mainstream global health agendas”.
Binge drinking is most prevalent in Austria and Ireland, but the US is not far behind, according to the study. This is defined by having more than five alcoholic drinks in one day.
George C. Patton, professor at the Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and Claudia Cappa, of UNICEF, in New York told Yahoo, “The drinking patterns of USA adolescents are catching up."
The study found that more girls aged 13 to 15 in the US drink excessively, in comparison to their peers anywhere else in the world.
Results showed that 17 out of every 100,000 teenage boys, between 15 and 19-years-old, are killed by violence. Israel and Switzerland have the next highest rate.
The New York Daily News says it's: “The new mantra for a growing number of American youths: Party hard, die young and leave a good-looking corpse.”