There’s a new report out about young people’s drinking, Risky drinking in North West school children and its consequences: A study of fifteen and sixteen year olds, produced by the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University.
The report makes it clear just how much young people are drinking in that region and amongst their key findings and recommendations they say:
Consistent messages regarding the risks associated with alcohol consumption should be delivered through educational settings to provide young people with an understanding of the dangers associated with alcohol use and to counter the promotional effects of alcohol advertising to which children are exposed on a regular basis.
The authors suggest that the updated alcohol strategy (Safe. Sensible. Social) is on the right track, but that there are important messages that this sort of research sends out:
the updated strategy suggests a complementary approach to underage sales and includes commitments to examining school-based education on alcohol, determining the consequences of drinking during developmental years and providing better advice to parents on child alcohol consumption. Such measures are still urgently needed but must take into account the potentially protective effects against the most dangerous types of drinking (in both the 2005 and 2007 surveys) at least associated with the sensible provision of alcohol by parents to those aged 15 and 16.
They return to this in their conclusions where the report says:
Critically, these data confirm the relationship between youths having dangerous drinking habits and being able to buy their own alcohol, as well as the apparently protective effects associated with involvement in diversionary activities (e.g. sports and hobbies) and appropriate parental provision of alcohol. The latter in particular adds to other studies that have also identified some protective effects against the development of damaging drinking behaviours associated with children drinking moderately in family environments (Foley et al, 2004;Warner and White, 2003). However, with an estimated 44.2 bottles of wine (or 177.0 pints of beer) drunk by each 15 and 16 year old in the North West each year, it is now critical that parents have a better understanding of what advice to give young people about alcohol consumption, including whether to allow them to drink in the family setting and if so, how much alcohol they can consume and at what cost to their short and long term health. Such measures should be supported by consistent messages delivered through educational settings to provide a programme for change aimed at minimising the potential damage caused by alcohol to young people and to counter the promotional effects of alcohol advertising to which young people are regularly exposed.
The Daily Mail, The Metro, The BBC and Channel 4 have the story, where the there’s a quote from Professor Mark Bellis, co-author of the report and director of the Centre for Public Health:
“These figures highlight the sheer quantity of alcohol being consumed by under-age drinkers across the North West.
“Sadly, there is still practically no information publicly available on what is a safe amount of alcohol for children to consume or on how parents can best moderate their children’s drinking.
“All too often such bingeing and violence not only damages children’s lives but also results in whole communities feeling threatened by gangs of drunk teenagers.”
Filed under: alcohol , Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Risky drinking in North West school children and its co
