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While recent reports have indicated that the
numbers of young people drinking are on a
downward trend, it seems that those who are
drinking may well be drinking more.
Over the last five years, there have been nearly
48,000 incidents where alcohol or drugs have led to
hospital admissions for people aged 17 or younger,
according to according to figures obtained – via
freedom of information (FOI) requests – by BBC
Radio 5 Live’s Victoria Derbyshire programme.
The true number is likely to be higher as only 125
of 189 trusts responded to the FOI request, the BBC
points out. Perhaps most disturbingly, 293 children
aged 11 or below went to an A&E department last
year because of alcohol – including for falls and
poisoning – a tenth of whom had to stay in hospital
overnight. In addition, more than 1,300 12 to 14-
year-olds attended for alcohol and over 4,600 15 to
17-year-olds, although, as the programme points
out, the figures are down on 2009’s totals.
‘Probably about 11 or 12’ says one of the
programme’s young interviewees, when asked how
old he was when he started drinking – alcopops,
lager, cider ‘or whatever was lying around’. Many
obtained their drink through siblings or asking
strangers to buy it for them, and others discussed
moving on to spirits as it got them drunk more
quickly. Most cited boredom, peer pressure or the
normalising effect of their parents’ heavy drinking as
reasons why they drank.
Alcohol charity Drinkaware called the figures
‘shocking’ and a ‘stark reminder about the
dangerous consequences of alcohol misuse’, and
urged parents to talk to their children about alcohol.
‘As important role models for children when it comes
to alcohol use, we encourage parents to have open
and honest discussions about the risks of underage
drinking,’ said chief executive Elaine Hindal. ‘We
believe that the “alcohol chat” is better in the living
room than in A&E.’
‘I think it’s more about what parents say to each
other,’ Alcohol Concern chief executive Eric Appleby
tells
DDN
, however. ‘It’s very often a case of “do as I
say but not as I do”. We shouldn’t be that surprised
that kids get into trouble with alcohol, given the
environment in which they grow up. It’s no good
saying to kids at the age of 14 or 15, “be careful
with drink, don’t drink too much” if they’ve spent the
previous 14, 15 years hearing their parents and
everyone else talking in very approving terms about
drink – “it’s Friday, let’s have a drink!” and so on. By
the time they’re old enough to get their hands on it,
they’ve been pretty much, you could almost say,
brainwashed into thinking it’s a good thing, an
important thing, an adult thing.’
Although his organisation isn’t ‘entirely
surprised’ by these latest figures, they are
nonetheless ‘pretty frightening’, he says. Alcohol
Concern and others have consistently campaigned
for tighter marketing restrictions – how much of a
role does advertising play for this age group? ‘It’s
one important factor – they see it all around them –
and the research we did in Wales showed that kids
know the alcohol brands more than they do the
sweets or cakes brands (
DDN
, July, page 5)’ he
says. ‘We know the advertising gets inside their
heads and they retain that.’
And, inevitably, kids tend to buy alcohol that’s
cheap. So are these figures another argument in
favour of minimum pricing? ‘Absolutely. A couple of
the kids interviewed on the Victoria Derbyshire
programme actually said “we buy it from our pocket
money” – we’ve been using the phrase “pocket
money prices” for the last year or so, and it’s just a
perfect illustration.’
Minimum pricing is far from a silver bullet on its
own, however, he acknowledges. ‘It’s one obvious
response, but one thing we mustn’t do is just blame
the victims all the time. Yes, it’s a strategy we need to
take, but just saying “we should be tougher on
pricing, tougher on underage sales” is only really
scratching at the surface. Those are the things we
can do straight away, but in the longer term it’s about
the environment that we subject young people to.”
When it comes to getting treatment for those
affected, are commissioners sufficiently aware of the
specific needs of young people with alcohol issues?
‘It would appear not,’ he states. ‘It feels as though
people are still surprised when kids turn up in A&E
and hospital wards with alcohol problems. They
know all about the dangers of drugs but it somehow
still seems to have passed them by that the numbers
coming in through alcohol are much greater. And we
clearly need to do more to tackle it.’
Figures obtained by the BBC reveal the extent to which young children are ending
up in hospital because of alcohol.
DDN
reports
News focus |
Analysis
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT
YOUNG PEOPLE BEING
HOSPITALISED FOR ALCOHOL?
6 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| October 2013
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
‘A couple of the kids
interviewed actually
said “we buy it from
our pocket money” –
we’ve been using
the phrase “pocket
money prices” for the
last year or so, and
it’s just a perfect
illustration.’
ERIC APPLEBY,
ALCOHOL CONCERN