Facts and figures about alcohol
FACTS
- Guidance issued by the Government in 2004 recommends that education about alcohol should start in primary school, before drinking patterns become established.
- Death from liver disease are now occurring at much younger ages than had previously been seen. (1)
- The average pocket money in 2007 for twelve to
sixteen-year-olds is £9.53 a week. A combination of rising disposable
income and stable alcohol prices means it is now 65% more affordable to
buy alcohol than it was twenty years ago.
- According to
the national Drugs Education Forum, friends or parents are the most
common source of youngsters being given alcohol, along with asking
someone else to buy it. Buying or stealing alcohol was much less
common.
- Frequent excessive alcohol use in adolescence can damage the brain and impair long-term memory. (2)
FIGURES
- More young people are choosing not to drink. There has been
a decrease in recent years in the numbers of young people who have ever
tried alcohol, with the rate among 11-15-year-olds in England falling
from 61% in 2003 to 54% in 2007 (3)
- 18% of 11-15 year olds say that they have drunk alcohol in the last week, down from a peak of 26% in 2001 (4)
-
However, among young people who had drunk alcohol during the last week,
the average amount consumed in a week by 11-15 year-olds has increased
substantially in the last 18 years, for both boys and girls, rising
from 5.3 units in 1990 to 14.6 units in 2008 (5)
- Young
people are now regularly drinking higher strength drinks, with spirits
and alcopops the most frequently consumed types (63% and 60%
respectively) (6)
- 6,000, 11-15-year-olds are admitted to hospital each year as a result of their alcohol consumption (7)
(1) Newbury-Birch, D et al (2008) The Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Young People: A Review of Reviews
(2) Ibid.
(3) Fuller, E (ed) (2008) Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking among young people in England 2007
(4) The Information Centre, 2008
(5) Ibid.
(6) Consultation on Children, Young People and Alcohol, DCSF, 2009
(7) Ibid.
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