No room for complacency despite success of campaigns
AMONG the positive features of the World Health Organisation (WHO) report recording a dramatic drop in under-age drinking in Ireland is that it is part of a trend evident across a number of studies. A consistency in findings about significantly lower levels of alcohol consumption and smoking among Irish teenagers suggests it really is happening and the messages about the dangers to health are getting through. Beyond the dangers to physical wellbeing, under-age alcohol consumption exposes young people to added risks, such as accidents or mental health difficulties.
In a study published in the ‘British Medical Journal’ (BMJ), we learned that smoking prevalence – the measure of whether a student had smoked in the previous 30 days – among 15-16-year-olds in Ireland had declined from 41pc in 1995 to 13pc in 2015.
Professor Luke Clancy, director of the Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland, and one of the authors of the report, hailed the progress as a sign that Ireland can achieve a Tobacco Free strategy of less than 5pc prevalence by 2025. That study was based on data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) 2015, which also noted significant falls in alcohol consumption by Irish 15-16-year-olds.
While comfort can be drawn from the trends, it would be foolish to think there is any room for complacency. Weekly drinking among Irish 15-year-olds may have dropped from 34pc to 8pc for girls, and from 42pc to 11pc for boys, but teens in Ireland are among the worst for binge drinking.
Lead researcher for the WHO report,
Dr Jo Inchley of St Andrew’s University, Scotland, said while the finding made clear that change was possible, more needed to be done to protect adolescents.
The delay in the Public Health Alcohol Bill, which is now back in the Oireachtas after a marathon 1,000 days since it was first introduced, is to be deplored.
One of its key proposals is to outlaw cheap booze with the introduction of minimum pricing: the cheapest is often the strongest. This is aimed at problem drinkers but clearly will impact on teenagers.
Alcohol Action Ireland recently revealed that an Irish man can drink to weekly low risk threshold for as little as €8.49; women €5.49.
There are also other threats out there. The ESPAD 2015 report found that Irish 15-16-year-olds had slightly higher use of illicit drugs, other than cannabis, during their lifetime. The latest menace to the physical and emotional well-being of our young people is abuse of social media.
It may be there is less drinking and smoking because teens spend so much time online. As WHO brings encouraging news, there is a growing pile of other reports pointing to dangers such as cyber-bullying – with weight and body image the main taunts – and online grooming.