Drinking amongst Young People in England in 2008

Selected statistics from the Information Centre’s annual report

• The proportion of young people who have never drunk alcohol is increasing

• The proportion of boys who say they’ve drunk in the last week is at it’s lowest in the last decade (18%)

• The proportion of girls who say they’ve drunk in the last week is at it’s lowest in the last decade (16%)

Proportion of pupils who had ever had an alcoholic drink, by sex: 1988-2008

Boys drinking patterns by year

Girls drinking patterns by year

• The proportions who have never drunk falls with age.

• The proportion of boys, at every age, who say they have drunk in the last week is the lowest it has been in the last decade.

• After rising in the first half of the last decade the proportion of girls saying they have drunk in the last week has fallen back.

Proportion of pupils who have never drunk alcohol by age and sex

Proportion of boys who drank alcohol in the last week

Proportion of boys who drank alcohol in the last week

• Those who are drinking appear to be drinking more often than in the past (1.8 days).

• The proportions drinking on Friday and Saturday have grown.

The mean number of drinking days for those who had drunk in the last week, by sex and year

Days on which boys drank in the last week

Days on which girls drank in the last week

Units

• Following a change in the way units are calculated it is now difficult to do comparisons with previous years figures.

• Of those who have drunk in the last week 36% of boys and 27% of girls say they had drunk 15 or more units of alcohol.

• What girls and boys drink appears to be culturally determined, with – boys drinking more beer than girls, and – girls drinking more spirits and alcopops

Units of alcohol drunk by boys who have drunk in the last week

Types of alcohol drunk in the last week

Percentage of units drunk in the last week by type of drink

• Parents appear to be giving children alcohol to their children less often.

• Young people are increasingly drinking at home or parties and less at clubs or pubs.

• Amongst current drinkers the proportion of young people drinking on the street, in parks or outside increases as they get older.

• The heaviest drinkers are least likely to drink with their parents.

Getting alcohol from home?

Street drinkers?

Street drinking by age

Where do the heaviest drinkers drink?

Heavier drinkers are less likely to drink with their parents

Family Perceptions

• Young people think their families tolerate their drinking (as long as it’s not too much) as they get older.

Perceived family attitude to pupil’s drinking

Drunk

• Girls are slightly more likely to have been drunk if they have drunk alcohol in the last 4 weeks

• Girls who have been drunk are more likely to have; felt ill or sick, had an argument, vomited, had their clothes damaged, and lost money than boys

• Boys are slightly more likely to have had a fight and been in trouble with the police

Drinking to get drunk?

Consequences

Consequences

Lessons

• Most pupils have a relatively accurate view of the proportions of pupils of their own age who drink alcohol

• Recall of lessons has been relatively stable in recent years– Year 10 pupils are the most likely (68%) to recall a

lesson alcohol in the last year– Year 7 pupils are the least likely (45%)

Perception of how many people of pupil’s age drink alcohol

Recall lesson on alcohol

Proportion of pupils who remembered receiving lessons about alcohol in the last year, by school year

Helpful sources of information

Helpful sources of information

Risk and Protective Factors

• Asian or black pupils were three times less likely to have drunk alcohol in the last week than white pupils

• Regular smokers were three times more likely to have drunk alcohol in the last week than non-smokers

• Pupils that had taken drugs in the last year were three times as likely to have drunk alcohol in the last week than those who had never taken drugs

• Smoking drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2008 can be downloaded from the Information Centre’s website at:

www.ic.nhs.uk