Swiss youngsters are on the whole happy.

That’s according to the World Health Organisation.

Switzerland ranks eighth out of 34 countries polled in the study.

Leader of the pack was the Netherlands, where an average 96 percent of young people said they felt upbeat.

In Switzerland 10,000 young people between the ages of 11 and 15 were asked various questions to find out how they feel about life.

And for the most part their outlook was rosy.

Eighty-four percent of girls and 88 percent of boys said they were happy.

According to the study the Swiss results were remarkable for what they said about parental relations.

Over 70  percent of 11 to 15-years-olds said they felt they could talk openly with their mothers.

The head of Geneva Universitiy’s youth health department, Francoise Narring, says she’s not surprised by the results.

Narring said that more often the real challenges of youth come up between 16 and 20.