Warning over teenage binge drinking
28 per cent of schoolchildren buy their own alcohol
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Wednesday, 27, Jun 2007 11:00
Although the number of schoolchildren buying their own alcohol is falling significantly a third of teenagers binge drink, a new study has warned.
According to the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), the proportion of children aged over 14 who buy their own alcohol has fallen from 40 per cent to 28 per cent since 2005.
It quizzed nearly 12,000 schoolchildren in north-west England – the largest known survey of its kind to be carried out in Europe.
The number of children that drink their own alcohol has also fallen from 50 per cent to 44 per cent.
But nearly a third of teenagers (29 per cent) who do drink regularly are binge drinkers – consuming over five units of alcohol in one sitting at least once a week.
The impact of this is alarming; 51 per cent of regular binge drinkers admitted to being violent when drinking; 22 per cent said they regretted having sex when drunk; and 15 per cent claimed to have been in a car driven by a person who had been drinking alcohol.
To buy their alcohol one in 14 young people have a fake ID, bought by half from internet sites.
Tony Allen, chair of the Trading Standards north-west under age sales strategy group, said that the results show it is harder for young teenagers to buy alcohol now than it used to be but "there is much more work to be done".
Brenda Fullard, north-west senior public health specialist for the Department of Health, said she was concerned at the "worrying" health and social implications of the findings.
"Alcohol consumption is the biggest contributory factor to hospital admissions of children on weekend nights, causing huge burdens on our health services," she added.
The findings will now be passed to government chiefs to help inform the next national alcohol harm reduction strategy.