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Komatrinken teens drink less
For many young people, alcohol apparently loses its appeal. According to a new study, especially young men drink less often in the intoxication. In addition, it was found that about every third teenager has never consumed alcohol. However, this is not a real all-clear.
Young men rarely drink until they drop
At the end of last year, numbers from the statistical offices of the various federal states proved that so-called coma drinking among young people is out of fashion. Now, a new study by the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA), which was presented in Berlin, shows a turnaround in the "binge drinking". As the news agency AFP reports, it became apparent that especially young men in Germany drink less and less often until they fall over.
Declining number of intoxicants. Image: Denis Junker - fotolia Alcohol consumption is still too high in young people
However, there is still no all-clear, because the consumption of alcohol among young people in the opinion of the experts is still too high. More than a third of the 18- to 25-year-olds (35.4 percent) drink at least once a month in the intoxication, in the twelve to 17-year-olds, it is 12.9 percent. After all, this is significantly less than a few years ago. In 2008, about 40 percent of young adults and more than 20 percent of under-17s get drunk at least once a month. Although evaluated the Federal Drug Commissioner Marlene Mortler (CSU) as a "gratifying development". She said young people "are increasingly taking a break from the dangerous binge drinking", but warned at the same time that alcohol is still the number one drug addiction among young people and "should not be trivialized". This is likely to look similar to the German Center for Addiction Issues (DHS), which in its current yearbook points out that legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol cause more harm than illegal substances.
So far no decline in young women
The data of the BZgA date from 2014. A total of 7,000 young people between the ages of twelve and 25 were interviewed for the study. Especially among the male drinkers showed a clear decline. According to reports, 15.6 percent of 18- to 25-year-old men drink at least four times a month - the lowest level in ten years. The under 17-year-old male adolescents also reached a low point - 4.3 percent drink even more frequently into intoxication. "Unfortunately, a decline in the binge drinking in the female adolescents and young women is not yet out," said Heidrun Thaiss, head of the BZgA, according to a message from the news agency dpa. "However, it is positive to note that they consume significantly less and less alcohol than their male counterparts."
Appeal to politics
Raphael Gaßmann, managing director of DHS, called on politics to take action. Both advertising and the sale of alcohol to adolescents must be restricted, also higher taxes for alcohol are necessary: "On spirits the same tax is levied as 25 years ago, but the income has increased significantly since then," said Gassmann. Consequently, the costs were less and less deterred - alcohol was "pocket-money-friendly" for young people. Another problem that a study of the Kiel Institute for Therapy and Health Research on behalf of the health insurance DAK health recently showed, is that many young people easily come to alcohol from parents. Again, measures would be useful.
Millions of people in Germany are alcohol dependent
However, the current study not only showed a decline in male intoxicants, but also that more and more young people completely abstain from alcohol. For example, one in three of the twelve to seventeen-year-olds (33 percent) said they had never drunk alcohol before. In 2001, it was only 13 percent. Since 2009, the Federal Center organizes the prevention campaign "Alcohol? Identify your limit ", which is supported by the Association of Private Health Insurance (PKV). To better reach young people in the future, more will be placed on social networks and online platforms such as YouTube. A nationwide action week against alcohol abuse had only recently pointed to the health risks. For example, it has long been known that high consumption of alcohol promotes or causes many illnesses, such as fatty liver or gastritis, and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction. Around 1.77 million people between the ages of 18 and 64 are considered dependent on alcohol in Germany. Another 1.6 million alcohol abuse. Every year, at least 74,000 people die from alcohol consumption in Germany. (Ad)