STUDY FINDS MORE KIDS SMOKING POT

TORONTO -- Fewer young people are smoking cigarettes and more are smoking
marijuana, suggests a national study released yesterday by Canada's Public
Health Agency.

The study examines smoking, alcohol and drug use, physical activity, body
image, eating patterns, emotional health and injuries in children aged 11 to
15.

Key factors that determine young people's health and well-being are their
relationships with family and friends, experiences at school and family
affluence, concluded the study, based on questionnaires given to more than
7,000 students aged 11, 13 and 15, from Grades 6 through 10.

"Family affluence is strongly associated with young people's overall health,
relationships with parents and life satisfaction," said the study.

Other key findings:

- - More than two-thirds of older students report that they spend at least one
hour each weekday on the computer playing games or chatting.

- - Girls eat more nutritious foods than do boys, but more girls than boys
skip breakfast.

- - Roughly a quarter of boys in each age group from 11 to 15 were classified
as overweight or obese. Proportionally fewer girls were overweight or obese.

- - More than one-third of both boys and girls report being bullied in the
past couple of months.