Most children 'healthy, happy and well cared for', says minister

The vast majority of youngsters are healthy, happy and well cared for, the Children's Secretary said yesterday.

Publishing a report on the state of childhood, Ed Balls rejected claims that young lives were being wrecked by drink, drugs, family breakdown, crime and other "toxic" influences.

His verdict flies in the face of independent studies such as a UN report that found British children had the worst quality of life in the affluent West.

Mr Balls defended his analysis by saying it was based on a review by civil servants of 150 academic studies.

"The vast majority of children and young people feel happy and safe, live in stable family environments, enjoy life, are doing well at school and make a positive contribution to their communities and society," he insisted.

"As a society, we do much better than we have done previously."

Where problems do exist with youngsters, the minister sought to pin the blame on their families.

"If parents give 15- to 16-year-olds a four-pack to go off and have a drink, I think that's the wrong thing to do," he said. "I'm not sure we have said that enough as a society.

"Part of our problem with excessive drinking by teenagers is that a lot of the alcohol is bought by parents, family members and older friends."

Mr Balls also suggested that overprotective parents were jeopardising their children's health by denying them the chance to play outdoors.

His report - produced by officials at the Department for Children, Schools and Families - said too many pupils were driven to school rather than allowed to walk or cycle.

Children whose parents had separated were less likely to achieve high qualifications and could suffer psychological problems, it added. Experts have raised concerns about young lives being "poisoned" by a mix of junk food, computer games, aggressive marketing and competitive school testing.

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Last year, a coalition of more than 110 experts, including the childcare expert Dr Penelope Leach and leading neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield, warned that growing numbers of children were suffering mental health problems.

Yesterday, Sue Palmer, the author of Toxic Childhood, said Mr Balls's conclusions were unrealistic.

"There is a huge amount of evidence that all is not well with the state of childhood, and not in just the UN report," said the former headmistress.

"For the Government to go into denial about it is really very foolish because we have got to be concerned about our children's future, not try to pretend things are all okay. Blaming parents is pointless.

"There are clearly things going wrong with childhood and we should be looking for ways to sort it out."

Mr Balls's report conceded that infant mortality and rates of low birth weight are "relatively high" while rates of sexually transmitted diseases are also increasing.

Another study produced by his officials has warned that alcohol consumption among 11- to 15-year-olds has more than doubled from 1990 to last year.

Mr Balls warned yesterday that children in their "tweenage" years - eight to 13 - are in danger of going off the rails as they move from primary to secondary school. He said they faced a difficult educational transition at a time when they were beginning the move into adulthood.

"It's the time when temptations are more on offer, when young people are most likely, if they do, to be pressured by peers to try their first cigarette," he added. "For those young people who get into difficulty, these are the years when difficulty often begins."

The official report comes ahead of next month's unveiling of a landmark ten-year children's plan.

It is expected that Mr Balls will use the launch of the strategy to announce plans to build more playgrounds for older children.