Adolescents in Europe aren’t drinking as much as they used to, according to a World Health Organization report published Wednesday.
The University of St. Andrews studied drinking habits of European adolescents in 36 countries for a period of 12 years. The report found that 28 percent of 15-year-olds started drinking at age 13 or younger in 2014. However, the rate fell from 46 percent in 2002.
One in 10 adolescents reported being drunk at age 13 or younger, but that rate has decreased by more than half since 2002.
Excessive drinking is still common with a quarter of boys and more than one in five girls saying they’ve been drunk two or more times by age 15.
Jo Inchley, lead editor of the report, said, “Overall reductions in harmful drinking have been greatest in countries that traditionally have had higher prevalence, such as Great Britain and the Nordic region.” Declines were observed to be similar among boys and girls.
Still, 9 percent of teenage girls and 16 percent of teenage boys were reported to be weekly drinkers by age 15.
Zasuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe, said about the findings: “Young people are regular drinkers at an age where they should not be drinking at all. As we know that any alcohol consumption at this critical developmental stage in life is especially harmful, policymakers have a responsibility to implement the measures we know are effective, such as limiting access, enforcing age checks and restricting any type of alcohol marketing, including digital marketing.”
Drinking during adolescence can impair psychological, social, and physical health and cause functional and structural changes in the brain that follow children into adulthood. Research has shown that delaying the age at which young people take their first drink lowers the risk of developing drinking problems later in life.
WHO recommends changes at the national and regional levels such as increasing alcohol prices, restricting alcohol availability, and promotion and sponsorship bans to curb the issue.
