A study into the health of school-going children has recorded a decrease in the numbers smoking, getting drunk and using cannabis.
The report, carried out by the Health Promotion Research Centre in NUI Galway, looked at the health behaviour of children aged between 10 and 17 years.
The study is carried out every four years and the data released today was gathered in 2014.
It found that 8% of children surveyed were smoking. This was down from 12% in 2010 and a significant decline from a similar survey in 1998, when almost a quarter of respondents were smoking.
Just over a fifth of those surveyed reported having ever been drunk, while 8% admitted using cannabis in the previous year.
The study found that seat-belt usage had doubled on the 1998 figure, with 81% of children wearing them.
The report's lead author, Professor Saoirse Nic Gabhainn said the positive findings were good news but she said more needed to be done to promote physical activity. The proportion of children engaging in vigorous exercise has remained stable since 1998.
The study also found that pressure as a result of schoolwork had increased compared to previous surveys.
There was a rise in the number of children who said they were trying to lose weight through dieting.
Compared with data from 1998, there has been a significant decrease in the proportion of children living with both parents, down to 76%, compared to 91% in the earlier study.
