Finnish teenagers drinking less, and taking more negative view of smoking

print this

A recent study commissioned by the Cancer Society of Finland shows that Finnish young people are taking a more negative attitude toward smoking than before.
      "We were surprised at how critical young people who do smoke are about smoking", said Matti Rautalahti of the Cancer Society.
      The survey showed that more than half of respondents aged 12 to 18 felt that smoking was stupid. Many of the teenagers felt that those who smoke tend to be less tidy, more restless, and less successful than others.
     
Meanwhile, binge drinking among young people aged 15 and 16 has declined in recent years.
      According to an alcohol and drug yearbook, which was published on Thursday, the number of teenagers who had been intoxicated in the previous month declined by nearly ten percent in 1999 - 2003.
      There has also been a five percent increase in the number of young people who do not drink at all.
      According to cultural expert Jaana Lähteenmaa, this does not suggest a negative attitude toward alcoholic beverages as such, but rather a critical attitude toward drinking to the point of intoxication. She sees many possible factors behind the trend.
     
"In the 1990s people wallowed in hedonism. At the same time there were cutbacks in the social and health sector", Lähteenmaa says. "Perhaps conditions have simply normalised".
      There are also trends in youth culture which encourage a completely or partially negative attitude toward drinking. One example of this is the straight edge movement, which shuns alcohol and illegal drugs.
      Lähteenmaa also says that young people are thinking more about health issues and the consequences of taking risks.
     
Although the development seems positive, the trend among young women is going in the opposite direction; drinking among young women of child-bearing age has increased sharply in the past 40 years.
      In the 1960s 36% of girls aged 15 to 19 said that they did not drink at all. The corresponding figure in 2000 was just ten percent.
      Child neurologist Ilona Autti-Rämö fears that the drop in the price of alcohol and the presence of alcohol in the everyday lives of young people and their families could lead to more drinking among women, putting their unborn children at risk.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Police report dramatic surge in drink-driving cases this year (11.5.2004)
  Survey says more and more young smokers wish to quit (8.4.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat