Children and young people

Half of preschool-aged children had at least two hours of screen time on days off in 2024

Preschool-aged children spent a lot of time on screens in 2024. About half of the children had at least two hours of screen time on days off. At the same time, 81% of boys and 75% of girls in preschool age were physically active for more than an hour on days off.

Over 80% of parents of preschool-aged children were satisfied with their lives in 2024. Most parents were doing well and felt optimistic about the future. In 2024, 44% of parents with a baby wished for more children. The shares wishing for more children were slightly lower than in 2020.

Adult support is needed for healthy lifestyles – more young people can talk about their issues with their parents

According to the School Health Promotion study, most young people can discuss their matters with their parents often or quite often. Adult support is needed for health-promoting lifestyles, as only a small proportion of children and young people both eat breakfast and exercise and sleep enough.

73 per cent of 8th and 9th graders in basic education felt that teachers encourage students to express their opinions during lessons. Almost one in ten 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th graders had experienced bullying at school about weekly.

One in four boys and one in five girls had overweight or obesity in 2023

The slight decline in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and young people aged 2–16 years that began in 2021 appears to be continuing. In 2023, the prevalence of overweight was 0.9 percentage points lower among boys and 0.4 percentage points lower among girls than in 2022. Correspondingly, the prevalence of obesity was 0.5 percentage points lower among boys and 0.1 percentage points lower among girls than in 2022.

However, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and young people remains high, and measures are still needed to support healthy growth in children.

Alcohol use, smoking and gambling have decreased

According to the European ESPAD study on young people’s use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs and gambling, alcohol use among adolescents has continued to decline. In 2024, 64% of Finnish 15–16-year-olds reported having consumed alcohol at least once in their lifetime. This is lower than the European average of 73%.

Smoking and the use of snus have also decreased. At the same time, the use of e-cigarettes, or vapes, has increased sharply. In 2024, around 40% of 15–16-year-olds reported having tried e-cigarettes at least once. In addition, one in four had tried nicotine pouches at least once.

Cannabis remains the most used drug among young people. Around 10% of 15–16-year-olds reported having tried cannabis at least once.

Gambling has also decreased. In 2024, around one in six 15–16-year-olds had gambled for money during the past year.

There were challenges in the implementation of statutory health examinations in 2023

There were shortcomings in the implementation of statutory extensive health examinations at child health clinics in 2023 and in school health care in the school year 2023–2024. Only about half of the children underwent an extensive health examination.

In oral health care, health examinations were implemented better. In the five-year-old and six-year-old age group, the coverage of oral health examinations was 75 per cent and the examinations were mostly carried out when the child was five years old. An oral health care visit for those awaiting their first child was recorded in only 12% of first-time mothers.

Read more about health examinations for expectant parents, young children and school-aged children

Next publications on the topic

The publication schedule for the statistical reports is indicated in THL’s publication calendar for statistics.
Publication calendar for statistics

You can find the latest information in the reports available on the tabs.

Contact details

E-mail addresses: [email protected]
Wellbeing of children under school age: Maaret Vuorenmaa, tel. 029 524 7008
Wellbeing of young people: Jenni Helenius, contacts in the first place: [email protected]; tel. 029 524 6082
Overweight among children and young people: Maaret Vuorenmaa, tel. 029 524 7008
Health examinations: Kaisa Pyrhönen. Contact requests primarily to avohilmo(at)thl.fi.
Alcohol, tobacco and drug use and gambling: Kirsimarja Raitasalo, tel. 029 524 7005