Too much too young? Alcohol misuse amongst young Londoners

The London Assembly has published Too much too young? Alcohol misuse amongst young Londoners. The report reviews evidence of alcohol use in London amongst 11-21 year olds and makes a number of policy recommendations across all levels.

The key findings of the report include:

• Young people in the capital are less likely to drink, and less likely to get drunk than young people elsewhere in the country.
• More than a third (35 per cent) of Londoners aged 11-21 drank regularly in 2005-06.
• Londoners aged 11-15 now drink around 307,391 units of alcohol a week
• 11-15 year old women now have similar drinking habits to young men of the same age.
• Around 80 to 90 per cent of 17-21 year olds have ever had an alcoholic drink, compared to 15 per cent of 11 year olds and 60 per cent of 15 year olds.
• In 2005-07, ten per cent of Pakistani and 12 per cent of Bangladeshi young people drank at least once a year (up from 4% and 2% respectively in 2001-04).
• Alcohol-specific hospital admissions for 11-21 year old Londoners have almost doubled in recent years. In 2006, there were 1315 hospital admissions for 11-21 year olds, compared to 690 in 2002 – an increase of 91 per cent.
• The alcohol-specific hospital admission rate for young women (at 14.0 admissions per 10,000) was almost twice as high as the rate for young men of the same age (at 7.4 admissions per 10,000).
• In 2003, there were 1,272 incidents where 11-21 year olds were accused of alcohol–related offences, compared to 2,370 in 2007; nearly double.
• Underage drinking was the least frequently reported issue in a survey on alcohol-related disorder conducted with community safety staff in London boroughs.

Recommendations (summary):

1. The Greater London Alcohol and Drugs Alliance (GLADA) should monitor the alcohol consumption of young Londoners between 2009 and 2012 to assess whether recent increases in drinking among young women and among young Pakistani and Bangladeshi Londoners are part of ongoing trends.
2. The Mayor should commission an immediate review of GLADA’s membership, resourcing and remit to ensure it can effectively implement the Regional Statement of Priorities for Alcohol and provide strong regional leadership on alcohol misuse.
3. The Mayor should outline initiatives to tackle the disproportionate impact of alcohol on the health of people from deprived communities in his upcoming Health Inequalities Strategy.
4. By March 2010, London boroughs where alcohol-specific hospital admissions for under-18s are higher than the national average (currently Kingston and Sutton) should appoint an alcohol harm reduction champion.
5. A London borough and local police service working with the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group should pilot the St Neots community alcohol partnership model to reduce alcohol misuse by under 18s during 2009/10. Representatives of both the on- and off-licence trade should be engaged in this partnership.
6. The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority should ensure that alcohol education is effectively covered in the mandatory PSHE curriculum, currently under development. Alcohol should be given the same prominence in this curriculum as drugs, and the focus should be on how to reduce alcohol harm. The curriculum should cover how and why alcohol tolerance varies between men and women. It should also include first aid techniques, so that young people know how to help in emergencies such as a friend collapsing because of alcohol.
7. By June 2010, The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Home Office should run a national FRANK campaign around alcohol that focuses on the consequences of drinking, and also promotes the information FRANK can provide about alcohol and local services.
8. By December 2010, GLADA should co-ordinate a London wide social marketing campaign that aims to reduce alcohol harm, in association with external partners. The campaign should target groups including parents and carers, young women aged 11-15 and young Pakistani and Bangladeshi Londoners.
9. By March 2012, NHS London should ensure that Screening and Brief Intervention Initiatives are in place at every London Accident and Emergency Department, and available to adults and to young people. A detailed evaluation of the impact of Screening and Brief Interventions on young Londoners’ drinking behaviour should be conducted by March 2014.

Interestingly the report does not extensively refer to the draft guidance from the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) issued earlier this year, though it does claim to support it: "The Committee welcomes [the CMO] guidance, but believes that once the guidance has been finalised, it should be disseminated together with information about alcohol treatment and support services for young people and for their parents and carers."

The Youth Alcohol Action Plan was released as the government's national strategy for young people in 2008.