Alcohol consumption in young persons 'declining'

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has recently published the ‘Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2013' report, which contains results from an annual survey of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11 (mostly 11 to 15 year olds).

Although the emphasis of the 2013 survey was on drugs (the emphasis alternates annually), the alcohol related points of note are:

• In 2013, around two-fifths of pupils (39%) had drunk alcohol at least once (in 2003 this was reportedly 61%). Boys and girls were equally likely to have done so. The proportion of pupils who have had an alcoholic drink increased with age from 6% of 11 year olds to 72% of 15 year olds.
• In 2013, 9% of pupils had drunk alcohol in the last week, compared to 25% in 2003.
• Pupils who had drunk in the last week had drunk an average (mean) of 8.2 units, less than in recent years. Boys and girls drank similar amounts.
• More than half (53%) of pupils thought it was OK for someone of their age to try drinking alcohol.

The report together with its resources documents can be found here: 'Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England - 2013'.