Replacing chain ring

Happy to be contradicted. My daughter recently bought a Foffa and that came with 46x16 which I felt was too high. Years ago I was on a steady training ride on flat roads and there were about sixteen riders in the bunch, I went up and down the line to check and everybody was on 42x16. OK in those days we only had ten gears to choose from but I felt there was a lesson there. I am sure Jonario will be happy with 48x16, for sure it will be a big improvement on what he has now.

I've just checked my old bike and it has a 46/18 ratio, so an 48/16 is out of the question lol.
You reckon I should down grade to 46/19? or 44/18 I'm using this to determine the difficulty btw...