Binge drinking a consuming passion for young
By Amanda Dunn
Health Reporter
November 27, 2004
Young Australians, particularly women, are binge drinking at dangerous levels earlier and more often than ever before amid deepening concerns about the country's entrenched drinking culture.
But while those in their teens and 20s are the most visible of the binge drinkers, they are by no means drinking alone.
A survey to be released soon by the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation, a private company that funds alcohol research and treatment, shows that 29 per cent of drinkers surveyed had been on a binge in the past year, including three-quarters of those under 18, and 2 per cent of those over 60.
In the survey of 500 people last month, 84 per cent said they were drinkers. Of those, 71 per cent said they drank at least monthly, while 16 per cent drank every day or most days.
And while the spotlight is most often focused on teenagers, research shows it is those in their 20s who, proportionally, are most likely to drink excessively.
Experts say that cleverly targeted advertisements and easier and cheaper access to alcohol are contributing to a shift in community expectations. They say alcohol is now viewed as an essential element of many social occasions, and that drinking to excess can be as much a source of pride as embarrassment.
Overall, Australia's alcohol consumption has fallen in the past two decades. Figures from the World Drink Trends survey show the estimated per capita consumption has tapered off from 9.8 litres in 1981-82 to 7.3 litres in 2001-02. But for the young, the lure of getting plastered - particularly for girls - has risen significantly in that time. A survey of Victorian secondary school students shows that those involved in risky drinking (more than six drinks in a session for males or more than four for females) among 16 to 17-year-old boys jumped from 29 per cent in 1984 to 43 per cent in 2002, while among girls the jump was from 30 per cent to 47 per cent. Among 12 to 15-year-old boys, 11 per cent were risky drinkers in 1984, rising to 18 per cent in 2002, while for girls, the rate leapt from 10 per cent to 24 per cent.
The problem has caught the attention of governments. The Federal Government has a National Alcohol Strategy, which includes research and education targeted at young people.
In Victoria, the parliamentary Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee is conducting an inquiry into ways of reducing harmful alcohol consumption.
A discussion paper released last month outlined areas of interest, including advertising, alcohol culture, the extent of its use and strategies for reducing harmful consumption.
While experts are quick to point out that most people drink responsibly, they say that many seem unaware of the risks of excessive drinking.
Melbourne University's Professor Margaret Hamilton has been involved in the study of alcohol and its effects for more than 30 years. In that time, she says, there has been a shift in the culture of alcohol in Australia. "We now assume alcohol has to be a part of our everyday activity, certainly anything to do with celebration or any distinguishing event," she says.
But more than that, Professor Hamilton believes the idea that alcohol makes a person more attractive - more vibrant and fun - has permeated the culture. "It's really a shift in what we think is attractive behaviour," she says.
David Crosbie, chief executive of Odyssey House, says peer group pressure is another strong influence. "If you go out and there's 10 of you in a group and you're all drinking, then you're all sharing something together," he says. And that in turn could be awkward, and alienating, for someone who chose not to drink.
"Certainly there isincredible pressure on people to enter into the spirit, to be part of it," he says. In fact, it is so entrenched in the culture that to not drink almost calls into question a person's "Australian-ness".
Mr Crosbie says there are two troubling trends: people are starting to binge drink younger; and women, in particular, are stepping up their drinking.
National Drug Research Institute figures show that for girls aged 14 to 17, the proportion drinking at levels that put them at risk of long-term harm rose from 1 per cent in 1998 to 9 per cent in 2001.
Mr Crosbie says an alarming number of young people are becoming alcohol dependent.
In the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation's survey, 36 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement "it doesn't matter how much you drink, as long as you don't drive". Chief executive Daryl Smeaton believes people are aware of the dangers of excessive drinking, but "it's almost as if accepting that you don't drink and drive is a licence to drink as much as you like".
In the decade between 1993 and 2002, 2643 Australians aged 15 to 24 died from injuries or disease attributed to risky drinking, including suicide, road deaths and violence, according to a recent report from the National Drug Research Institute. From 1993-94 to 2001-02, 101,165 young people were admitted to hospital for alcohol-related problems.
As director of emergency at St Vincent's Hospital, Andrew Dent knows what these statistics look like. He says people frequently arrive with alcohol-related head injuries and hand injuries, and that emergency staff have their own shorthand - PFO (pissed and fell over) for such patients. But while much of the publicity is around younger drinkers, there are also concerns about their parents' generation.
Professor Hamilton has long predicted that alcohol issues will rise among older Australians who are more affluent and living longer. "I think if we were looking now we would probably find a significant proportion of older people drinking in a manner that's not good for their health," she says.
Dr Dent has noticed this too. He says St Vincent's has begun a study looking at the role of alcohol among older people coming to emergency with injuries.
From:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Natio...ssion-for-young/2004/11/26/1101219745018.html
