Youth drinking: more teens abstain – those who drink often drink heavily

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It is hardly news that young people drink alcohol. Consumption of alcoholic beverages has grown in the new century to an average equivalent 10 litres of pure alcohol a year per capita.
      Researchers have found a considerable polarisation among teenage Finns in their relationship with alcohol. While a larger proportion than before are opting for complete abstinence, a larger percentage are in danger of becoming marginalised from society, and heavy drinking is part of the problem.
     
First, the good news.
      “We have a future generation growing up that shuns alcohol and understands that it should not be used excessively”, says Pekka Heinälä, head physician at the A Clinic Foundation.
      Statistics indicate that there has been a steady increase in the proportion of teetotallers among Finnish teenagers since the middle of the previous decade, and that binge drinking is also on the decline.
      Inhaling solvents has also declined since the 1980s, notes Erkki Tukeva, regional head of the A-Clinics in the Tampere region. The number of cases of alcohol poisoning among teens has gone down steadily after a few years of growth.
     
On the negative side, Virpi Jäntti, director of the A Clinic Foundation’s Tampere Youth Station, says that heavy drinking is on the increase. “Those who drink, are drinking more than before”, Jäntti says.
      Experts in the field say that those who are in danger of becoming marginalised are not reached early enough for help. Some keep slipping through the cracks of the system all the way to adulthood.
      “I feel that action should be taken at an early stage. More young people are drinking to mask their malaise, not to have fun”, says Mika Hallberg, head of Stoppari, a detoxification unit in Hamina.
     
While there are no official statistics specifically measuring excessive drinking among young people, other factors give an indication of the extent of the problem.
      “The number of 16 and 17-year-olds who are urgently taken into care has grown significantly, and this is an indication of growth in the risk of marginalisation. There is much need for substance abuse rehabilitation services for the underaged”, says Raimo Tuohimetsä, head of youth intoxication issues at the City of Helsinki.
      A recent school health survey and the health habit study for young people indicates that between 20 and 30 per cent of 16-year-olds had not had any alcohol in the preceding 12 months.
     
By comparison, seven per cent of adults aged 30 to 49 abstain from alcohol completely.
      Teenage girls have also come close to the level of boys in alcohol consumption.
     


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Alcohol – a bigger killer than traffic (6.9.2011)
  Alcohol consumption in Finland declined for third year in succession (16.2.2011)
  Finnish alcohol consumption tops list of Nordic countries (18.5.2009)
  More teenagers stay sober, but binge drinking more common among those who drink (4.5.2009)

Links:
  A Clinic Foundation

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