Alcohol

Young People into 2006

Comments below have been made by:
DR = Dr. David Regis, Research Manager

"Most young people don't smoke, or use drugs, and those that drink usually do so in moderation. It's very easy to focus only on the behaviour of those few young people who use illegal drugs or who drink to excess."
"After a peak in the middle 1990s and then a drop, drug use among these young people seems to have settled down. The most common drug they have tried is cannabis; we have seen no sign that the reclassification of cannabis has resulted in its greater use by young people. This is a very important 'negative' finding."-- DR.
Experience of alcohol
Up to 8% of 10-11 year olds, up to 24% of the 12 -13 year olds, and up to 41% of the 14-15 year olds had consumed at least one of the listed alcoholic drinks during the previous week.
"This pattern of increasing experience with age is expected, but are we happy with the levels seen?" – DR
Beer or lager
24% of the males and 11% of the females, aged 14-15, drank at least one pint of beer or lager during the previous week. Figures suggest that fewer are drinking but 'drinkers' are drinking more.

Wines and Spirits
24% of the 14-15 year old females drank at least 1 small bottle of pre-mixed spirit drinks during the previous week. 19% of the 14-15 year old females had drunk at least one glass of wine during the previous week. Since 1996, the data shows that older females ‘overtook' the males as spirit-drinkers and in 2005, 19% of 14-15 year old females, reported drinking one or more spirit measures in the past week.

Alcohol units
17% of 14-15 year olds males drank more than 10 units of alcohol 'in the previous week' and 9% of 14-15 year old males drank on 3 days or more 'last week'.
"It's not easy to set guidelines for young people, but we guess that they be a lot lower than we advise for adults." – DR
Obtaining alcohol
The off-licence remains the most important source of purchased alcohol, especially for the 14-15 year olds, followed by the supermarket.
"This is of course illegal, but they still keep telling us they are able to make such purchases ." – DR
Drinking at home
Most ‘drinkers' drank at home and substantial numbers of 14 -15 year olds used other venues including friends, disco, club, party, pubs and outside in a public place. Of those who do drink at home, up to 40% do so with their parents always knowing about it.
"We published a report many years ago entitled 'We teach them how to drink!' and clearly we still do...." – DR

See also Trends: Young People and Alcohol