Aims

To support the free and open dissemination of research findings and information on alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. To encourage open access to peer-reviewed articles free for all to view.

For full versions of posted research articles readers are encouraged to email requests for "electronic reprints" (text file, PDF files, FAX copies) to the corresponding or lead author, who is highlighted in the posting.

___________________________________________

Sunday, February 18, 2007

  • from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday

  • Revealed: Britain's 12-year-old alcoholics

Doctors want special drying-out units for children with drink problems

By Jonathan Owen and Paul Bignell

Published: 18 February 2007

Children as young as 12 are being diagnosed as alcoholics amid growing concerns about binge-drinking in Britain, an investigation by The Independent on Sunday reveals today.

Record numbers of pre-teens and teenagers now require hospital treatment for drink-related disorders, the exclusive nationwide survey shows.

The findings prove there is a hidden epidemic of child alcoholism, resulting in thousands of youngsters being treated in hospital each year for alcohol poisoning, liver disease and drink-related psychiatric illnesses.

Doctors warn that conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver are now starting to appear in people who are still in their teens, prompting calls for special detoxification clinics to be set up around the country for teenage drinkers.

Dr Sarah Harris, an expert on alcoholism at the Royal College for General Practitioners, said: "There is currently no national provision for youngsters addicted to drink but it would be entirely appropriate to have some adolescent clinics for alcohol abuse."

Dr Claire Casey, head of a new youth detox unit at the private Priory Group, said: "We have children presenting with all the adult symptoms of alcoholism. Some are so addicted that it is actually dangerous to get them to stop drinking straight away.''

New figures reveal that Britain's teenagers are drinking twice as much as they did a decade ago, with half of all 13-year-olds consuming more than 10 units a week. The amount being consumed by 11- to 13-year-olds has gone up almost threefold in the same period, with doctors citing the cultural shift towards 24-hour drinking.

They are also worried that the drinks industry is deliberately targeting the young, promoting alcopops - heavily sweetened, attractively packaged alcoholic drinks - and offering alcohol at historically low prices.

The IoS investigation also found that alcohol abuse accounted for more than 8,600 hospital admissions of under-16s last year - the highest ever and a 37 per cent rise on five years ago.

The revelations come hard on the heels of a UN report that said British children were more at risk from alcohol, drugs and unsafe sex than any other wealthy country in the world.

But the figures compiled by IoS only hint at the extent of the problem, according to Professor Mark Bellis, the Government's leading public health adviser on alcohol. He said: "Hospital statistics grossly underestimate the number of young people drinking alcohol in ways that will damage their health. We are in danger of creating a generation permanently scarred by alcohol."

The public health minister, Caroline Flint, said: "We are concerned that more young people are being admitted to hospital via accident and emergency because of acute intoxication.

"It is vital that young people are aware of sensible drinking messages so that as adults they will be responsible drinkers."

But Professor Martin Plant, director of the Alcohol and Health Research Trust, criticised the Government for not standing up to industry interests. He yesterday accused it of being dominated by a "desire to please the drinks industry to an extent that they ignore scientific advice on the long-term dangers".

Contributor: Don Phillips

at