The number of children aged 15 and under being admitted to A&E departments with alcohol-related problems rose to nearly 4,000 in 2005-06.
The statistics, which came from the answer to a Parliamentary Question by Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Sandra Gidley MP, show that 3,939 children were admitted to A&E with alcohol-related problems, the highest total for at least five years.
Separate figures also uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show a growing gap between teenage girls and boys admitted to A&E for the toxic effects of alcohol:
- In 2005/06 the figure was 62% girls and 38% boys.
- In 2001/02 the figures for girls and boys were split almost evenly at 51% to 49%.
Commenting, Sandra Gidley said:
"This is a frightening sign of how out of control the binge drinking culture in this country has become. Our A&E departments are having to cope with drunkenness on a massive scale.
"It is our young people - and girls in particular - who are most at risk. "Problem drinking starts at an early age, yet the Government is failing to focus its resources on the young and is not launching any new measures against binge drinking until sometime next year.
"Our young people simply cannot wait this long. As well as causing chaos in A&Es on Friday nights and anti-social behaviour, irresponsible drinking results in serious long-term health problems.
"A fresh look at tackling the growing problem of excessive drinking is long overdue. A good start would be cracking down on those shops that sell alcohol to underage children. We also need to consider putting a halt to supermarkets selling drinks at rock bottom prices - with no thought as to the knock on effects."
Two weeks ago Gidley introduced a Bill in the House of Commons that would restrict alcohol advertising and clamp down on alcohol related offences. The Bill calls for Gordon Brown to 'turn warms words into positive action' on alcohol abuse.
The Bill would ban advertising of alcohol before the television watershed and in cinemas, except during films with a rating of '18'. The new law would also set a date on which all alcoholic drinks would have to be labelled with the number of units they contain, along with a reminder about safe drinking limits. Sandra Gidley's website
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