A new study, published in the journal Annals of Human Biology, has found that the current methods used by immigration bodies, local authorities and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to assess an individual's age to be inaccurate in more than a third of all cases.
Age assessment uses markers of physical growth and development to assess an individual's developmental age, and it is used in certain circumstances to check a person's stated chronological age, being the number of years they have lived.
It is a crucial tool for immigration bodies and local authorities when receiving asylum seekers, to decide if they are a child under 18 or an adult.
