Report On Underage Drinking In The U.K
Underage drinking in the UK has doubled in the last decade. This is a major problem for organisations such as the NHS as it costs them £2.9 million per year to treat patients as young as 15 who have alcohol related illnesses. The UK not only has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies but also the highest rate of underage drinking in Europe. Clearly the UK should evaluate this serious situation and try to eradicate the increasing rate of underage drinking.
In order to understand the problem we must initially investigate what proportion of our younger generation drink underage, how much alcohol is consumed and what types of alcohol they drink? From surveys of the percentage of children who drank in the last week, we find that Boys have the greater need to try alcohol and start at as young as 11 years old, in 1990 the percentage of 11-15 year old boys was 22% that had a drink in the last week, in 1992 it increased to 24%, and in 1996 again it increased to 27% however in 1998 there was a significant decrease in proportion of 11-15 year olds who drank in the last seven days compared with 1996, this was due to the major increase in illegal drugs that the younger generation were using more of. But still alcohol is a long term trend which, if not solved fast will cause serious problems in the future. The average amount that a boy or girl drank was, in 1992 6.0 units of alcohol was consumed, in 1994 8.4 units of alcohol was consumed and in 1998 9.9 units of alcohol was consumed by both sexes, with the boys again having the most to drink. The main alcohol that the majority of youngsters drink are, beer, lager, cider, wine and sprits, which are all easily accessible through your local spars or corner shops. Is drinking among young people increasing? According to the surveys it is, in 1990- 1998 all children new to alcohol said they had tried beer, lager, shandy and spirits, in those same years the children who said they had tried alcohol in the last year had greater percentages, Youngsters who drank beers and lagers was at 71% which is nearly tripled what the percentage of people that didn’t drink in the last year, and the same went for spirits at 54%.
