City girls’ booze table of shame
“Alcohol makes children and young people vulnerable” COLIN SHEVILLS
The number of 15- year- old girls in Sunderland who drink alcohol once a week is twice the national average, shock figures reveal.
Statistics released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre as part of the What About YOUth study showed that 12.6% of girls in our city drink booze at least once every seven days, compared to the national average of 5.9%.
Just over 9% of boys on Wearside drink, also above the national average for the gender of 6.6%.
Almost seven out of 10 boys and girls from Sunderland who were surveyed said they had had an alcoholic drink, above the national average of 62.4%.
Nationally, just over three in five young people reported that they had previously had a whole alcoholic drink ( not just a sip), 6% of all young people were classed as regular drinkers ( drinking alcohol at least once a week), 8% of young people drink alcohol about once a fortnight, 11% drink about once a month, and 32% drink only a few times a year.
Colin Shevills, of North East alcohol office Balance, said: “Alcohol makes children and young people vulnerable by encouraging poor decisions which they can later regret. It also exposes them to a range of long- term health risks linked to more than 60 medical conditions, including seven different types of cancer.
“Someone who begins drinking as a young teen is four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than someone who waits until adulthood to use alcohol, so it’s vitally important that something is done to try and further reduce the number of young people turning to alcohol.”