Children as young as 11 drinking nine pints a week

[mc_squared]

Children as young as 11 drinking nine pints a week

 

 

By Daniel Martin

Last updated at 3:23 PM on 27th January 2010

 

 

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Children as young as 11 claim to be downing nine pints of beer every week, in the latest shocking example of the depths to which Binge Britain has sunk.

An official survey of 23,000 youngsters unveiled a regional breakdown of drinking habits for the first time and found that in the worst area, the north east, more than a quarter of 11 to 15 year olds said they had touched alcohol at least once in the past week.

Those who drank said they knocked back an average of 17.7 units a week - equivalent to nine pints of beer or one and a half bottles of wine.

Among boys, this rises to 20.2 units - and because it is just an average, many are claiming to be drinking far more.

 

In the North East, children who drank regulalry said they drank the equivalent to one and a half bottles of wine, or nine pints of bee every week

 

Overall, the survey from the NHS Information Centre reveals a marked north-south divide in drinking habits among high school age children - with the capital containing the least drinkers.

Critics say the appalling statistics are the result of the government's failure to tackle supermarkets who sell drinks at 'pocket money prices'.

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: 'These figures indicate that for many young teenagers drinking has moved beyond experimentation and into far more dangerous territory.

'Regular consumption at these levels, especially when compressed into heavy sessions at the weekend puts boys and girls at considerable risk. This extends beyond the usual considerations around accidents and injury through violence.

'At this age the adolescent mind is still developing, and for an unlucky minority heavy drinking so early will have profound and long lasting implications for their learning and problem solving skills.

 

'Tougher penalties for those found to be selling alcohol to youngsters are welcome, but parents and families also have a responsibility to help their offspring make healthy choices.'

It is always possible that many of those who responded to the survey, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, exaggerated their alcohol intake to impress.

Researchers conducted interviews with 23,100 children aged 11 to 15 between 2006 and 2008.

The children were asked whether they regularly drank alcohol, and how many drinks they had consumed in the past week.

The study shows that across England between 2006 and 2008, the proportions saying they have had at least one drink in their life has declined from 55 per cent in 2006 to 52 per cent two years later.

There was a similar slight decline in the numbers having drunk once in the past week: down from 21 to 18 per cent.

The study found that generally, boys and girls were just as likely as each other to drink alcohol - but that boys tend to drink more.

In London, just 39 per cent said they had ever drunk alcohol, while in the north east the figure was 63 per cent (rising to 65 per cent among girls in the north east).

Asked if they had drunk alcohol in the past week, just 12 per cent had done so in London compared to 26 per cent in the north east.

The youngsters who said they drunk regularly were then asked how much they had drunk in the past week.

The north east topped the table. Young drinkers there claimed they knocked back an average of 17.7 units a week - equivalent to one and a half bottles of wine, or nine pints of beer.

The average for boys was 20.2 units - equivalent to 10 pints; while girls drank 15.5 units - eight pints.

The lowest average was seen in the capital, but even here it was 11.3 units - around a bottle of wine or five or six pints.

Across England, the average 11 to 15-year-old drinker said they knocked back around 14.5 units.

The survey also showed that children in the north east were much more likely to smoke than those in London, while drug taking was highest in the north west. In this region, some 20 per cent claimed to have taken drugs in the past year.

 

Tim Straughan, chief executive of the NHS Information Centre, said: 'The report shows there are significant regional differences in the percentages of young people who smoke, drink or use drugs.

'It is interesting to note that London has such comparatively low levels of drink, drug and alcohol use among its 11 to 15 year olds.

'In contrast, youngsters in the north east are more likely than their peers anywhere else in the country to smoke and drink alcohol. However, they are the least likely to take cannabis.'

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1246504/Children-young-11-drinking-pints-week.html#ixzz0dpZy1YKi

[pickle]

Oh yeah. :cool3:

[mc_squared]

Oh yeah. :cool3:

 

You approve?:shocked2:

[pickle]

:lol: Well, I think that kids should be allowed to drink, but learn to do it in a healthy way. Most Europeans seem to do things like that, but here in America no one really cares so they just do it...or something. I have a headache. :P

[a_face_of_light]

How many units is the weekly guideline?

[mc_squared]

:lol: Well, I think that kids should be allowed to drink, but learn to do it in a healthy way. Most Europeans seem to do things like that, but here in America no one really cares so they just do it...or something. I have a headache. :P

 

:shocked2:

[pickle]

No like....never mind. :P

[the_gloaming09]

where the hell are the parents?

[mc_squared]

where the hell are the parents?

 

Sleeping off their hangovers?:rolleyes:

[the_gloaming09]

haha

[pickle]

Maybe they were too cold to go check on their kids. :wreck:

[Buxus vahlii]

Awesome :laugh3:

[The Escapist]

Drinking causes brain damage at a young age and many aren't responsible enough not to abuse it anyway.

[Saffire]

That picture of the three girls makes them look miserable. Come on girls, lighten up! You're drunk!

 

Woooo!

[pickle]

:laugh3:!

[Obi]

Americans may laugh ;) but it's a big problem here in the UK. In Europe there's a sensible drinking culture from an early age, where kids indeed do drink, but in the UK we don't have that.

 

Kids don't drink sensibly with their parents, they go out and get bladdered with their mates. Tis just how it is.

[pickle]

Americans may laugh ;) but it's a big problem here in the UK. In Europe there's a sensible drinking culture from an early age, where kids indeed do drink, but in the UK we don't have that.

 

Kids don't drink sensibly with their parents, they go out and get bladdered with their mates. Tis just how it is.

 

This is what I meant before^ :P

[mc_squared]

Americans may laugh ;) but it's a big problem here in the UK. In Europe there's a sensible drinking culture from an early age, where kids indeed do drink, but in the UK we don't have that.

 

Kids don't drink sensibly with their parents, they go out and get bladdered with their mates. Tis just how it is.

 

Yup. Yet another symptom of "broken Britain".:dozey:

[HorrificAttack]

Americans may laugh ;) but it's a big problem here in the UK. In Europe there's a sensible drinking culture from an early age, where kids indeed do drink, but in the UK we don't have that.

 

Kids don't drink sensibly with their parents, they go out and get bladdered with their mates. Tis just how it is.

 

It's as fucking overhyped a problem as "hoodies"

 

It's just people moaning about a problem that isn't even there.

[busybeeburns]

course they're going to drink that much in the North East, there's nothing else to do there!

[Buxus vahlii]

Drinking causes brain damage at a young age and many aren't responsible enough not to abuse it anyway.

 

Really?:confused:

[HorrificAttack]

course they're going to drink that much in the North East, there's nothing else to do there!

 

:/

[noonsun]

It's as fucking overhyped a problem as "hoodies"

 

It's just people moaning about a problem that isn't even there.

 

If you're alcoholic starting from that age your liver is going to be like a rock by the time you're thirty :/

[HorrificAttack]

No my point is there are extreme cases where this happens, but it's nowhere near as common as morons in the media will want you to believe

[noonsun]

Oh, well, I wouldn't know about that then, I don't live there or anything...