A culture that defines people by what they consume is taking its toll on children, according to a report published today by the Good Childhood Inquiry. The report, conducted by a charity named The Children’s Society, is based on interviews with thousands of children.

The study found that commercial pressure to constantly consume the latest products at adult levels, particularly designer clothes, computer games and music, is pushing happiness right out of childhood.

The report’s executive summary states, “While incomes in the United Kingdom have doubled in the last 50 years, research shows that the well-being of children in the UK is rated among the worst in Europe.” In terms of childhood well-being, Britain ranked 21st out of 25 European states, in spite of and possibly partly due to the fact that about 65 percent of British 8-to-15-year-olds have Internet access at home and/or their own cell phones.

The Times reports,

[The study] concludes that the consumer society and failure to protect children from commercial pressures is partly to blame for deteriorating mental health among young people. Rates of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses have risen in the past two decades with one in ten children now suffering from a diagnosable condition.

Surprisingly, poor children suffer from the sickness of materialism even more than their wealthier peers, according to the report.

The report … said that children from poor backgrounds were the main victims of consumerism, with many becoming distressed at the prospect of falling behind the latest trends.A report submitted to the inquiry by the National Consumer Council found that children in deprived areas were more obsessed with money and shopping than youngsters from better-off homes. More than two thirds (69 percent) of poorer children said that they only wanted a job with a high salary compared with 28 percent of children from affluent areas.A study conducted by the Office for National Statistics found a strong link between low household income and mental health problems. In households with a weekly income of £100 [$197] or less, 16 percent of children had mental health problems compared with 8.6 percent in households earning £300-£499 [$592-$985] a week and 5.3 percent in homes with £700 [$1,381] a week or more. …Bob Reitemeier, of The Children’s Society, said: “Unless we question our own behavior as a society we risk creating a generation who are left unfulfilled through chasing unattainable lifestyles.”

Brightly colored advertisements for clothes, electronics and other toys notwithstanding, consuming goods is not what makes a child happy. To find out what will help define you or your child not as a ravenous consumer but as a happy person, read “The Cure for Shopping Addiction.”