Alcohol Review

Alcohol understanding for all

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[summary] Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England (2016) | NHS Digital

  • 44% of 11-15 year old pupils had ever drunk alcohol, which is not comparable with earlier surveys*
  • Whether a pupil had drunk alcohol was related to their age, increasing from 15% of 11 year olds to 73% of 15 year olds.
  • 51% of white pupils and 45% of Mixed ethnicity pupils had ever had an alcoholic drink, compared to 28% of black pupils, and only 13% of Asian pupils
  • 10% had drunk alcohol in the last week
  • Pupils who drank alcohol in the last week consumed an average (mean) of 9.6 units that week
  • The proportion increased with age, from 1% of 11 year olds to 24% of 15 year olds.
  • A large majority of young people (77%) considered their parents to be a source of helpful information about drinking alcohol.
  • Teachers were the most commonly identified helpful source of information outside of the family setting (by 64% of pupils).
  • TV was the most popular source of helpful information about drinking (59%), with the internet also being a popular choice (58%).

*This is because the question was changed to, “Have you ever had an alcoholic drink–a whole drink, not just a sip?” having previously been about whether they had consumed a “proper drink”, a term which caused confusion.

Europeans spend more on alcohol than on topping-up education

The average European’s household spends more on alcohol than on supplementing state education, says the European Commission. At €250 a year alcohol spending accounts for around 1.6% of household expenses, but the proportion varies widely across the bloc: In the Baltic States it is around four times the average, while in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Finland it is around three. The UK is almost exactly average in this regard, as is Germany, while Spain and Italy the percentage is around half the EU mean. ■

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20171204-1