Increasing alcohol abuse among adolescents

Teenagers more often because of alcohol abuse in the hospital

28/12/2010

Alcohol abuse among adolescents continued to increase in 2009. In many federal states, the alcohol-related hospital admissions of young people have reached their highest level ever. Health experts assume that the numbers will continue to rise. Against this background, politicians also demand a sharper response against the parents.

The German Employees Health Insurance Fund (DAK) has published its figures on the cases of alcohol abuse among young people for the year 2009. As a result, more and more young people are being treated for massive alcohol consumption in hospitals. Alcohol-related hospital admissions by young people reached a record high in Germany in 2009, even though the numbers in some federal states declined slightly. The so-called „Binge drinking“ continues to be extremely widespread among adolescents, as the statements by the DAK show.

Alcohol abuse increased the most in Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony
The most dramatic is the increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions in Rhineland-Palatinate (1,664 cases in 2009, up 11 percent from the previous year) and in Lower Saxony (2,685 cases in 2009, up 10.3 percent from a year ago). Even in the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, seven percent more adolescents had to be admitted to the hospital after a binge drinking (6,500 in total) than in 2008. In Bavaria (5,316 cases, plus 3.5 percent) and Baden-Württemberg (4,028 cases, plus 1.7 percent), the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions also continued to rise, albeit less rapidly than in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate. In Berlin, 408 adolescents were hospitalized for alcohol abuse, an increase of six percent. All previously mentioned federal states have reached unpleasant highs with the increases in alcohol abuse, which make it clear that coma drinking is still widespread among young people. The DAK warns therefore that coma drinking is often the beginning of a lifelong drug addiction. „Addiction careers usually start with alcohol or nicotine“, explained Frank Meiner, psychologist of the DAK to the news agency dpa.

Less alcohol abuse in some eastern German states
In the states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, however, the current figures of the DAK appear at first glance to represent a turnaround in the alcohol consumption of young people. In Brandenburg, for example, 407 young people had to be hospitalized due to massive alcohol abuse in 2009, which represents a decline of 7.1 percent compared to the previous year. In Saxony, according to the DAK, the number of juvenile drunkards even fell by 15.8 percent compared to the previous year, so that in 2009, 928 alcohol-related hospital deliveries were required here. In Saxony-Anhalt, too, the number of hospital admissions fell by 12.2 percent to 704 cases in 2009. However, the DAK press spokesman Rüdiger Scharf emphasized. „This does not mean that the problem has diminished.“ Because in the aforementioned federal states, the number of young people had fallen due to the declining birth rate and emigration anyway.

Alcohol consumption by teenagers is alarming
Overall, the development is extremely worrying in the opinion of the DAK. In some federal states, the cases of alcohol-related hospitalization of adolescents have almost doubled within ten years, as the current figures of the DAK make clear. It is the so-called „Binge drinking“ Still more widespread among boys than among girls, compared to 2003 the girls have increased disproportionately. „The current numbers are alarming“, emphasized Michael Hübner, the head of DAK in Rhineland-Palatinate. Frank Meiners, the DAK psychologist explained that the careless handling of many young people with the legal drugs beer, schnapps or wine must be addressed more than before in schools and businesses. The adolescents must understand that „excessive drinking (...) no way out (is) to balance requirements in job or school“, stressed the expert. Michael Hübner also stated: „We urgently need to put the topic on the timetable.“ The DAK press spokesman Rüdiger Scharf stressed that the DAK their poster campaign „colorful instead of blue“ Therefore, it wants to continue in the schools against the drunkenness and 11,000 schools have already been contacted. In their statements, the DAK refers to the figures of the statistical offices for the group of ten to 20-year-olds, which have not yet been evaluated for all federal states. For the year 2010, the DAK could not yet give any information.

Participation in emergency room costs required
Already in mid-December, the CDU health expert Jens Spahn asked parents in the future to contribute to the hospital and transport costs of drunken children and adolescents. The politician pointed out in an interview that the number of hospital admissions has virtually tripled in the last eight years. The ten- to fifteen-year-olds now represent one-fifth of the adolescents admitted. Here, the parents would violate their duty of care and supervision, warned Spahn. For this reason, parents should be at least involved in the cost. So far, this position within the coalition could not prevail.

Addiction is detected too late in most cases
Overall, there is an increase in alcohol consumption in Germany. According to the German Department for Addiction, Germans generally drink far too much alcohol. According to studies, adults between 18 and 64 years of age drink about twelve liters of pure alcohol per year. In terms of health, however, only a quarter of the quantity is justifiable. Alcohol serves as a compensation for stress, grief and worries especially in professional life. But because regular consumption is also socially recognized, addiction is usually treated far too late. According to the Association Sucht e.V., it takes about twelve years until an addiction is treated ... "Until then, a lot has gone wrong," said the Drug Commissioner of the Federal Government, Mechthild Dyckmans. Body and mind have been massively damaged in this long time. Therefore, relatives and parents should take a closer look and step in before it is too late. An involvement of the clinic costs should not help here. Rather, it is important to rethink society. (Fp)

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50 percent of 15-year-olds regularly drunk
Alcohol increases the risk of cancer
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Addiction: More and more women are being treated
Late treatment of alcohol addiction

Picture: Gerd Altmann