'Binge' drinking: Almost one third of school going children in a national survey have admitted to having been "really drunk", with girls and boys admitting to it in equal numbers.
The numbers admitting to having been very drunk has increased among 15 to 17- year-olds over the past four years, according to the The National Health & Lifestyle Surveys published yesterday.
However, numbers getting drunk has dropped markedly among younger children in all social classes. The rate of drunkenness among 10 to 11- year-olds boys has for example more than halved since 1998. It has also decreased among girls of this age group and among boys and girls in the 12 to 14-year- old category.
A quarter of all school going children surveyed said they had had a drink over the past month but 40 per cent of them said they had never had an alcoholic drink at all, up from 31 per cent in a similar study in 1988.
Looking at types of alcohol consumed, the surveys found consumption of alcopops among girls has more than doubled from 3.1 per cent in 1998 to 8.1 per cent in 2002. Consumption of spirits among girls is also up, from 3.8 per cent to 6.8 per cent over the same period.
The report also found the numbers of adults drinking more than six drinks on an average session, which is classified as binge drinking, has also increased. Among men it has increased from 35 per cent to 41 per cent and among women from 12 to 16 per cent. In addition, over 30 per cent of men and 22 per cent of women consume more than the recommended weekly alcohol limit.
Some 35 per cent of adults reported having been drunk, 14 per cent admitted they should cut down and a similar percentage said they felt the effects of their drinking at work.
While the surveys point out there are relatively high numbers of non-drinkers among the over 55 population, less than 7 per cent of the rest of the population are non-drinkers. It also said those in the lowest educational category tended to report non-drinking more frequently.
Furthermore, the surveys found lifetime use of marijuana or cannabis among adults has increased by 4.2 per cent in men and by 3.2 per cent among women. Overall, 12 per cent of men and seven per cent of women reported cannabis usage over the past year. "The rates of cannabis use are notably higher among third-level educated people," the report said.
Some 11 per cent of school going children reported using cannabis over the past year, up 1 per cent since 1998.
The surveys also looked at cocaine and ecstasy use and found use of both had increased since 1998. Cocaine usage has increased from 1.8 per cent to 3 per cent among men and from 0.6 per cent to 1.9 per cent in women. Ecstasy usage increased from 2.9 per cent to 3.9 per cent among men and from 1.5 to 2.4 per cent among women over the same period. Ecstasy use was found to be almost completely confined to younger respondents.