Less alcohol consumption among adolescents

Girls get drunk much less often than four years ago, boys are still drinking a lot

17.09.2012

Alcohol consumption among adolescents and young adults remains high. However, a recent study by the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) comes to the conclusion that the binge drinking of adolescents shows a slight downward trend.

Three years after the launch of the largest prevention campaign to date against alcohol, the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Center for Health Education and the Association of Private Health Insurance have taken quite a positive view. The Director of the BZgA, Prof. dr. Elisabeth Pott, explained that „the first successes that we can record after only three campaign years for our prevention approach“ speak. Recent study results of the BZgA show that the proportion of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 who practice so-called binge drinking at least once a month has dropped from 20.4 percent to 15.2 percent in the last four years. A gratifying development, nevertheless „we are just at the beginning“, because „At 15 percent, drinking a binge on adolescents is still alarmingly high“, this is the conclusion of the BZgA director.

700,000 teens with risky alcohol consumption
Converted mean a share of about 15 percent that still „More than 700,000 teens of this age group continue to drink alcoholic risky“, remind BZgA, Federal Ministry of Health and the Association of Private Health Insurance in a recent press release. Therefore, prevention offers are also „indispensable in the future to achieve long-term behavioral changes in the consumption of alcohol by young people“, emphasized the BZgA director. The Federal Minister of Health Daniel Bahr (FDP) brought the problem to the point: „Children and adolescents grow up in this country in a society where alcohol consumption is widespread.“ Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in Germany. Since the adolescents „Strongly orienting on what adults do, it is crucial in terms of prevention to educate young people early on the addictive and health risks of alcohol“, stressed Bahr.

Boys twice as likely as girls risky drinking
In this respect, it is pleasing that the BZgA notes a significant decline in drinking in adolescence and also notes an increasingly critical attitude of adolescents to alcohol. According to the latest report, fewer and fewer young people and young adults in Germany believe that moderate alcohol consumption has a positive effect on their health and are aware that an alcohol intoxication can pose a significant health risk. However, the experts observe considerable gender differences. While the risky drinking behavior in girls is declining sharply, young men still tend to drink the binge as they often do. Forty-two percent of 12 to 17-year-old boys said they drink alcohol every week, compared to just 19 percent of girls. Roughly 20 percent of 12- to 17-year-old boys drink intoxicates at least once a month, with 18- to 25-year-olds even having around half of the boys. Risky drinking behavior is around in the boys „Twice as prevalent as girls of the same age and young women“, reports the BZgA in the current press release.

27 billion euros economic damage from alcohol excesses
Overall, the regular consumption of alcohol among the adolescents has fallen slightly, but this should not hide the fact that Germany should continue to do so „High consuming country“ remains the message of the BZgA, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Association of Private Health Insurance. Today, just under 31 percent of children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 consume alcohol on a weekly basis, compared with 46.4 percent in 2004. For the 18- to 25-year-olds, however, the decline is far less clear (88 percent in 2004, 84 percent in 2011), according to the BZgA. It is gratifying that the previously increasing number of alcohol poisoning stagnated for the first time in 2010. Nevertheless, the damage to the economy still amounts to an estimated 27 billion euros, of which 10 billion euros are accounted for by the costs of treatment in hospitals alone, said the director of the BZgA, Prof. Dr. med. Elisabeth Pott.

Gender-specific prevention campaign against alcohol
In view of the significant gender differences in alcohol consumption, the prevention campaign should now be more targeted towards the different needs of boys and girls. Boys and girls will in future be addressed with gender-specific images, texts, posters and cinema spots. There is also plans to expand awareness of the risks of alcohol on the ground in pubs, parks, clubs or at festivals. So far, the prevention campaign has largely been financed by the Association of Private Health Insurance, which had provided the sum of around 50 million euros for four years. (Fp)

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Image: Christoph Aron (pixelmaster-x)