Young Danes little interested in smoking

The number of 13-year-old Danes who take up drinking and smoking has fallen dramatically, but the decline has not been as pronounced among older students, according to a story in the Copenhagen Post.

Results from the “Copenhagen Barometer,” a poll of students in the seventh through ninth grades, found that consumption had dropped across the board.

The fall was particularly marked among the youngest group, however, where only three out of 10 of the youngsters polled said they had tried smoking and/or drinking.

But the percentage of ninth graders who had tried smoking and/or drinking was said to have fallen by only a few points.

The polling of Copenhagen students takes place every spring, but no comparative figures were included in the Post’s story.

Copenhagen’s deputy mayor for child and youth affairs, Anne Vang, called the numbers “terrific.”

“They mean that children can learn more effectively because they aren’t hung over or stoned,” she was quoted as saying.