Drinking and bingeing among European youths: an urgent problem to face

1
Drinking and bingeing among European youths an
urgent problem to face

• European Parliament
• Health Consumer Intergroup Meeting
• April, 25th 2007
• Dr. Alicia Rodríguez - Martos

2
Our youths drink and binge more and more

• The protection of minors and youths is an urgent
  need and a priority for
• the Community Strategy on Alcohol.
• 90 European 15-16 year-old adolescents has drunk
  at some time in their lives.
• First drink at a mean age of 12.5 years
• Young people (15-24) report (Eurobarometer,
  2007)
• drink once (31) or 2-3 times / week (22)
• have 1 (46), 3-4 (25) or gt4 drinks (19), the
  day they drink
• binge once a week (22) or several times /week
  (10)
• These are higher than for other age groups and
  are increasing
• Mean age for 1st drunkeness, 14 years old
  (North-South gradient)
• Alcohol is responsible for 1 in 4 deaths among
  15-29 year-olds

3
Adolescents who have binged 3 in the last month
(Source Anderson Baumberg, 2006, with ESPAD
data 20004)

• Ireland 32
• Netherlands 28
• UK 27
• Malta 25
• Denmark 24
• Norway 24
• Sweden 24
• Latvia 22
• Slovenia 22
• Bulgaria 21
• Spain 20
• Czech Rep. 18

• Finland 16
• Portugal 15
• Slovakia 15
• Italy 13
• Lithuania 13
• Greece 11
• Iceland 11
• Poland 11
• Romania 11
• Cyprus 10
• France 9
• Hungary 8

4
Trends in binge drinking in 15 -16 year-olds
(Source Anderson Baumberg, 2006 with ESPAD
data 1996-2000)
5
Our youths drink and binge more and morein Spain

• 82 14 to18 year-old Spaniards have drunk at some
  time in their lives
• Mean age for first drink 13.7 years (13.6, boys
  13.9, girls)
• Mean age for weekly drinking 15.1 years (15.2,
  boys 15.1, girls)
• Drank in the last 12 months 81
• Drank in the last 30 days 65.6 (65.3, at the
  weekend)
• Drank gt 8 days in the last 30 days (regular
  consumption) 47.3
• 51.8 boys 42.8 girls - 66.6 18 year-olds
  20 14 year-olds
• Had ever been drunk 58
• Had been drunk in the last month 34.8
• 37 boys 32.5 girls - 47.8 18 year-olds
  13.9 14 year-olds
• Were hazardous drinkers in the last month 7.3
• 13.15 boys 11.5 girls 23.3 18 year-olds
  4.4 14 year-olds
• First consumption takes place later and frequency
  of drunkeness is lower than in Europe.

40 g/d -24 g/d fr boys -girls
DGPND, 2005 HBSC, 2004
6
Our youths drink and binge more and morein
Spain el botellón

• The Botellón is the outdoors gathering of masses
  of youths for drinking, chatting and sometimes
  listening to music for some hours, at weekend
  nights.
• Its the synthesis of North-European bingeing and
  the Mediterranean open air fiesta life. It
  started in the 90s and its still growing
  macrobotellones called via internet or mobile
  phones.
• Many Spanish youngsters regularly practise
  botellón, with a big difference between regions.
  Half of the adolescents do it, in areas where the
  botellon is established.
• Most attendees participate 1-2 nights every
  weekend 8, 3 days/ week.
• Participants bring their big supplies 1 l
  spirits, to be mixed with 2 l softdrinks for 2-3
  people or else 3 l beer or 3 l of calimocho
  wine mixed with coke per person.
• The botellón means a serious health problem,
  beyond the public disorder and nuisance

Rodríguez-Martos, 2006
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What is the reason for bingeing?

• Individual factors early onset, disinhibition,
  stress relief, multiple substance use, family
  history of heavy drinking, expectations.
• Social factors relationships with parents, low
  parents control, peer pressure and modelling,
  low risk perception.
• Current globalization common marketing
  strategies targeting youths appealing ads, based
  on motivational studies, associating fun with
  OH, and media modellingrepeated drinking
  promotion shapes minors perceptions and attitudes
  
• Homogeneous values hedonism quick
  satisfaction, high fun.
• Homogeneous life- and leisure-styles night
  leisure, alcohol availability, big quantities,
  affordable prices, purchasing power and few
  responsibiities.
• Homogeneization of drinking patterns in Europe
  no country presents a pure nordic or southern
  pattern common trend to hazardous drinking be it
  with spirits, beer or wine.

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What could we do? (Babor et al., 2003
Anderson Baumberg, 2006 Eurobarometer, 2007)

• Control of the offer availability, price,
  marketing -
• Legal age of 18 () for selling and serving -
  strictly enforced
• 87 of Europeans agree - 24 of 15-24 youths
  disagree.
• Decrease availability () density of premises
  opening days and hours
• Increase in prices (), included alcopops.
• 36 of youths 15-24 believe that price would
  reduce alcohol consumption in young people and
  44, that theyd buy less alcoholic drinks if
  price should increase 25.
• 26 of 15-24 youths believe that they would
  increase their buying if price should decrease
  25
• Regulation and independent control of marketing
  practices
• 76 of Europeans agree to ban ads aimed at youths
  - 37 of 15-24 youths disagree.

Among 10 best measures
9
What could we do? (Babor et al., 2003
Anderson Baumberg, 2006 Eurobarometer, 2007)

• Develop and spread responsible serving of
  alcoholic beverages
• Increase random alcohol controls in roads
• 80 of Europeans believe that it would
  reduce DWI.
• Lower legal BAC for young and novice drivers to
  0.2 g/ l ()
• 73 of Europeans agree - 28 of youths
  disagree.
• The support of restrictive measures is mainly
  held by those who believe that alcohol harm is a
  public authorities responsibility, and dont
  regularly drink.
• Spanish young bingers reckon that the best
  measuers to reduce the botellón would be to
  increase prices and parents control and to
  enforce the legal age for purchasing / drinking
  alcohol.

Among 10 best measures
10
What could we do? (Babor et
al., 2003 Anderson Baumberg, 2006
Eurobarometer, 2007)

• Demand reduction
• Include warning messages on containers.
• Information campaigns to raise public awareness
  (parents!!) about
• alcohol risk in minors
• Support and train families in prevention skills
  
• Train teachers and social educators
• School programmes (multicomponent, coping
  skills, decision-taking)
• Community action global programmes and healthy
  leisure options
• Its urgent to implement specific and evaluable
  prevention strategies aimed at kids and youths,
  and to promote SBI() by pediatricians, GPs and
  surgeons.
• The most effective measure is external control.
  Education is the ground for acceptation and
  sustainability of prevention.

Among 10 best measures
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Recommendations

• At a European level
• A common evidence-based strategy is needed as a
  framework to ensure the accomplishment of the
  Councils Recommendation 2001/458/EC to foster,
  support and monitor MS preventive measures.
  Youths drinking patterns and their determinants
  should be further investigated.
• Common and strict regulations would be needed
  especially concerning marketing and DWI.
• At a country level
• Each country needs an alcohol policy with a
  special focus on minors and find the best way to
  apply effective measures in line with a common
  strategy, adapted to its culture and
  circumstances, and counting on the relevant
  sectors.
• No circumstance or tradition should hinder the
  implementation of measures aimed at protecting
  our kids, adolescents and youths.
• Minors should not drink at all risk of serious
  brain impairment and gt risk of dependence
• Youths dont get any benefit from drinking
  risk/harm increases linearly with consumption.