Countries at the top of the list were European nations with strong social welfare systems - the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
The rankings were based on six measures: material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviours and risks, and youngsters' own subjective sense of well-being, the AP reported.
In the health and safety category, the United States came last. That category looks at rates of infant death, low birth weight, immunisation, and deaths from accidents and injuries.
The fact that the United States and Britain were ranked below countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary shows that a nation's overall wealth alone does not guarantee a child's well-being, the report authors said. – (HealthDayNews)
Read more:Child Centre
February 2007