THE USA is ranked the 39th best country for kids to grow up in, behind Saudi Arabia and Bosnia, according to a new global report.

America is the eighth worst country in terms of sustainability as a result of our carbon emissions, the index revealed.

The US ranked lower than 38 other nations in the report entitled "A future for the world’s children?" which surveyed 180 countries.

The commission was headed up by 40 experts from the World Heath Organization (WHO), The Lancet medical journal and UNICEF.

They found kids in Norway, South Korea and the Netherlands had better changes of survival and well-being due to good healthcare, nutrition, education.

Countries were scored by their carbon emissions per-capita, putting nations like the US and Australia close to the bottom.

These rich nations were noted as contributors to global health threats as a result of climate change.

'OVERHAULED APPROACH'

Ex-New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who co-chaired the commission, said action was needed.

Clark said: "Countries need to overhaul their approach to child and adolescent health.

"[We need] to ensure that we not only look after our children today but protect the world they will inherit in the future."

The "flourishing" part of the report measured countries in terms of surviving and thriving.

The top 10 were Norway, South Korea, Netherlands, France, Ireland, Denmark, Japan, Belgium, Iceland, and the UK, with Central African Republic coming in last.

The USA is a higher income country (HIC) that ranks as the 11th most unequal country in the world.

The report read: "The USA is a higher income country (HIC) that ranks as the 11th most unequal country in the world (among countries for which we have data on income inequality).

"Moreover, the child flourishing rank of the USA (39th) is also poor compared with many other HICs, and even some middle income countries (MICs)."

The "sustainability" section ranks countries on how the nation's per-person emissions compared.

This ranked countries on their sustainable levels of carbon emissions "relative to 2030 targets as a measure of a country's threats to future children."

Out of the top 25 countries with the best emissions scores, all but two were African.

Many African nations did badly on children's health, education, nutritious food and protection from violence in the "flourishing" category.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Not one country performed well on all three measures of children flourishing, sustainability and equity.

Exploitative marketing practices pushing fast food, sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco at kids via social media was also highlighted.

The report noted progress has been made in kids lives over the past 50 years but the benefits were not equitable.

With global warming and other issues, the commission added every child's future is uncertain.

The report read: "Climate disruption is creating extreme risks from rising sea levels, extreme weather events, water and food insecurity, heat stress, emerging infectious diseases, and large-scale population migration."

Director general of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment Sunita Narain said kids' health "is at grave risk because of environmental degradation."

She said: "The biggest inequity that we need to confront today is the inequity [of] climate change."

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