More children are abusing alcohol

There are growing concerns that more and more children are suffering the consequences of alcohol abuse. Children are drinking at a younger age and this trend leads to more people developing alcohol problems throughout their teenage years and adulthood.

A BBC Radio 5 live investigation found that last year near 300 children aged 11 or under were admitted to A&E after drinking alcohol.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance, said that while there are some cases where children have drunk alcohol accidentally, the latest figures show that one in ten 11-year-olds have drunk alcohol in the last week.

Alcohol kills

Every year youngsters die in freshers’ week at university after drinking too much and developing alcohol poisoning. The problems are not limited to university students though, as they start much earlier.

Over consumption is leading to long-term health problems of the kind usually only seen in middle-aged adults. Cirrhosis of the liver is more common than ever, with young adults developing the condition in their early 20s, and the problem is becoming more common in women.

Sports sponsorship

Figures show that 11- to 15-year-olds are exposed to more alcohol advertising on TV than their parents were. Alcoholic beverage companies sponsor several sports and many of the youngsters questioned believe that drinking is a part of sport culture.

Alcohol Concern has raised this issue in the past, describing how the alcohol industry sponsors major sports and events to attract new drinkers; for example Guinness is sponsor of Scottish Rugby and Carling sponsored the football Premier League for eight years.

Both children and the heaviest drinkers gravitate to the cheapest drink. Every year there are over one million alcohol-related hospital admissions. One possible solution is to reduce further the availability of cheap alcohol on supermarket shelves.