An alarming proportion of the borough's schoolgirls are suffering with anxiety and turning to self-harm, according to an official study.

Concerns about weight and looks are particularly insidious, while many youngsters feel under pressure to have sex.

A new official study also found that nearly one in three girls (32% in total) in Richmond's secondary school has self-harmed, while 16% of 15 year olds experience suicidal thoughts 'often' or 'every day'.

The statistics come from the Richmond Young People's Survey, which is an in-depth study of some 4,883 youngsters from seven of the borough's secondary schools and 18 primaries.

They are likely to be indicative of a wider mental health crisis facing Britain's young people, which appears to have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The study found that some 67% of girls aged 15 felt anxiety 'often' or 'every day', compared to 26% of boys.

Under the same heading, the proportion of girls worried 'a lot' or 'quite a lot' about their mental health rose from 20% at the age of 10 to 37% at 13 and 54% at 15.

An assessment of how the borough's youngsters cope with difficulties found as many as 44% of girls had 'low resilience' compared to 22% of boys.

Disturbingly, the official study found that 32% of secondary school girls 'at least sometimes' deal with problems by hurting themselves in some way – compared to 14% of boys.

When asked about their top three worries, some 22% of girls aged 10 listed 'looks', rising to 46% of those aged 13 and 60% at 15.

Across secondary school girls - aged 12-15 - some 54% listed being worried about their looks compared to just 18% of boys.

Generally, the proportion of boys reporting any sort of worry or anxiety was lower, while looks did not feature among the top three.

The main worry for boys at secondary school was 'my future' at 45%, followed by school work at 39% and getting a job at 31%.

Looking at self-esteem, some 62% of 15-year-old girls said they would like to lose weight, which is approaching three times higher than the figure for boys at 22%.

These figures comes on the back of reports the borough has high levels of eating disorders among girls and referrals to mental health support.

The issue has been highlighted by the Twickenham MP, Munira Wilson, who has championed a campaign in Parliament for every school to have a mental health specialist.

Looking at relationships, the study found more than half of 15-year-old girls – 52% - said they felt pressure there was pressure on young people to have sex versus a much lower 33% of boys.

One in five of this age group – both boys and girls – had experienced negative behaviours in a relationship with a past or current boyfriend or girlfriend.

Some 9% of girls said a boyfriend had used hurtful or threatening language compared to 5% of boys. Again, 9% of girls said their boyfriend has asked them to send pictures or videos of a sexual nature, versus 4% of boys.

Six per cent of girls said they had been pressured into sex versus 2% of boys.

The Richmond Young People's Survey was developed by the Schools Health Education Unit (SHEU) in partnership with the borough council's Public Health Team.

The purpose of the survey was to obtain pupils' views on aspects of health and wellbeing including: healthy eating; safety; emotional wellbeing and leisure time.

The Council said: "The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities in the borough and the impacts on children and young people are slowly beginning to emerge.

"The results – of the research - will help public health, local schools, and our partners to plan and commission services in response to the impact of the pandemic."