Children as young as 12 are starting smoking, the report says

In his first annual report, Tony Jewell, who provides independent advice to the assembly government, says the population is living longer.

But he said more action was needed to tackle smoking, binge drinking and obesity, particularly in the young.

But one GP from Merthyr Tydfil warned it would be hard getting the health message home to many young people.

Dr Jewell said the overall health of people living in Wales was "favourable".

He said infant mortality rates were improving, people were living longer and deaths from heart and circulatory disease were reducing, although it remained the biggest killer.

However, concern remained for the health of children in Wales, who drank more alcohol at an earlier age, exercised less and had higher body mass index results than the majority of countries in the western world.

Figures published earlier this week show that more mothers in Wales (37%) smoked during their pregnancy than in any other UK country Tony Jewell, chief medical officer for Wales

"While overall population indicators may show health is improving, these conceal wide variations within the population," he said.

"I am particularly concerned about the health of children in Wales, notably the rising epidemic of obesity, high smoking rates, and the growing culture of binge drinking."

Figures showed that while the number of adult smokers was falling, there were still 6,000 premature deaths each year, and children as young as 12 were taking up the habit.

Dr Jewell said the aim was to reduce the number of adults smoking from the current 25% to 17%.

"The smoking ban is a major step forward, but now we have to try and prevent young people starting to smoke and build the campaign for smoke-free homes - especially where there are children exposed to second-hand smoke," he said.

Reducing binge drinking was also a priority for health officials, according to the report which also recommended having smoke-free homes for children and tackling health inequalities in poorer communities.

'No aspirations'

Dr Jewell said he had joined other UK chief medical officers to write to the Treasury to express concern about the relatively cheap price of alcohol and the need to consider tax policies as part of a programme of action.

The report also emphasised the need to tackle wider health inequalities of those in disadvantaged communities, such as the south Wales valleys, which had higher than average rates of smoking, drinking and obesity.

But Dr Jonathan Richards, of Morlais surgery in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, believed it could be hard getting the health message home to many young people.

"Research has shown that young people in the south Wales valleys do not really think about the future," he said.

"They live in the present and so if I'm sitting there saying to them 'if you smoke now you will get lung disease in 20 years time or cancer in 25 years' time', that is completely meaningless to them because they don't have aspirations in terms of education.

"They don't have aspirations in terms of jobs and therefore why bother changing a lifestyle they are enjoying?"