Warning Over Middle Class Parents' Alcohol Habits

Too many middle class parents are drinking excessively as a way of coping with the demands of family life, a report suggests.

The study for charity 4Children warns of a "silent epidemic" of alcohol misuse in British families. It claims that two million parents drink alcohol daily, with the highest earners drinking the most.

The study claims parenting capacity can be hampered by habitual drinking.
The report, Over the Limit: The Truth about Families and Alcohol, suggested about a third of mothers and fathers drink more than their recommended units a week.

You can read more about this story on the BBC News website here.

UK Teenagers Shun Drugs For A Healthier Lifestyle

Teenagers in England are shunning drink and drugs for a cleaner lifestyle, say health officials. A survey of 6,500 children aged between 11 and 15 showed the numbers taking drugs, smoking and drinking alcohol had all fallen over the past decade.

A Report by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre found 17% had tried drugs at least once in 2011, compared with 29% in 2001. The team said youngsters appeared to be living increasingly healthy lifestyles.


The survey, which questions a selection of children at English secondary schools, is carried out every year to monitor reported use of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. The latest poll, carried out between September and December last year, found the number of children at each age who said they had taken drugs in the preceding 12 months was down.

Among 15-year-olds, the number fell from 39% in 2001 to 23% in 2011. Only 3% of 11-year-olds had taken drugs.

Cannabis was the most commonly used drug, although its was also down. The survey also found the proportion of 11-to-15-year-olds smoking was the lowest since the polling began in 1982, and the number of "regular" smokers had halved in the past decade. Five per cent said they smoked at least one cigarette a week compared with 10% in 2001. Just 25% said they had tried cigarettes at least once.

The proportion drinking alcohol at least once has dropped to under half - 45%, compared with 61% per cent in 2001. Only 7% reported drinking regularly, down from 20% 10 years ago.

Tim Straughan, chief executive of the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, said: "The report shows that pupils appear to be leading an increasingly clean-living lifestyle and are less likely to take drugs as well as cigarettes and alcohol.

"All this material will be of immense interest to those who work with young people and aim to steer them towards a healthier way of life."

Siobhan McCann, of the charity Drinkaware, said: "While the decline in the number of children trying alcohol is good news, the report still shows there are 360,000 young people who reported drinking alcohol in the last week alone."

You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here.

Children Exploit Alcohol Loophole Claims MP

Claims children are exploiting inadequate age-checks to buy alcohol online are to be taken up with the Home Office by a Devon MP.

Dr Sarah Wollaston said research suggests websites are offering alcohol with "no discernible" identity check.
In a report by Serve Legal, there is an indication of a rise in high street retailers asking for ID.

As a result however, teenagers have been switching to the internet to buy alcohol, the report said.
The research, analysed by Plymouth University, showed the number of shops asking for proof of age had gone up from 55% in 2007 to 71% by 2010.

You can read the full story on the BBC News website here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-18420477

Mental Health Issues & Alcohol Abuse: How The Families Of Those In The Armed Forces Are Affected

Matt Fossey of the Centre for Mental Health spoke to Jenni Murray on Radio 4's Woman's Hour just over a week ago about the impact of alcohol abuse and mental health problems on the partners and children of Service personnel and veterans. The programme is still available to listen to online here: http://bbc.in/K1wi6h

The Centre has also published a report which calls for more research is urgently needed into the emotional needs of the families of those in the armed forces. It argues that a lack of research into domestic violence, alcohol abuse and mental health problems and there impact on the families of those in the UK armed forces means that their needs are going unmet.

The full report is available to read here: http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/news/2012_unsung_heroes.aspx

Girl's Attitudes & Role Models Explored

A new report by Girlguiding UK highlights a role model deficit among girls and young women, shedding light on how the narrow range of positive examples available to girls and young women aged 7 to 21 is linked to a limited range of aspirations for their futures.

The report, prepared from focus group research, says that girls who think it right to refrain from sex while still far below the legal age of consent are no more than “a significant minority”. Several of those surveyed admitted taking risks and pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone in order to feel accepted – drinking alcohol, partying and having underage sex. They justify their actions by referring to the abundance of TV shows that are seen to normalise such behaviour.

The full report is available here:
http://www.girlguiding.org.uk/pdf/GirlsAttitudesExploredRoleModels_FINAL.pdf [PDF 5.55MB]

The Home Office's Alcohol Strategy 2012

The Home Office has introduced its new Alcohol Strategy which sets out proposals to cut down on binge drinking, alcohol fuelled violence and slash the number of people drinking to damaging levels. The Alcohol Strategy includes committments to:

• introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol
• consult on a ban on the sale of multi-buy alcohol discounting
• introduce stronger powers for local areas to control the density of licensed premises including making the impact on health a consideration for this
• pilot innovative sobriety schemes to challenge alcohol-related offending

The Alcohol Strategy is available to download here: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/alcohol-drugs/alcohol/alcohol-strategy

Social Determinants Of Health & Well-being Among Young People

The World Health Organisation has published a new report which looks at how health and well-being inschool-aged children in determined by their social circumstances.

The report gives the results of the 2009/2010 HBSC survey, covering 39 countries and regions across the European Region and North America. It collected data from 11, 13 and 15-year-olds on 60 topics related to their health and well-being, social environments and behaviour. Responding to the survey, the young people described their social context (relations with family, peers and school), physical health and satisfaction with life, health behaviours (patterns of eating, tooth brushing and physical activity) and risk behaviours (use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis, sexual behaviour, fighting and bullying). Statistical analyses were carried out to identify meaningful differences in the prevalence of health and social indicators by gender, age group and levels of family affluence.

The report is available to view here: http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/Life-stages/child-and-adolescent-health/publications/2012/social-determinants-of-health-and-well-being-among-young-people.-health-behaviour-in-school-aged-children-hbsc-study

British Teenagers Among The Worst For Sex & Drinking

Research published in the Lancet Series on Adolescent Health suggests that British teenagers are among the world’s worst for binge drinking and underage sex. In a league table of 40 mostly high-income countries, England had the fourth highest percentage of young people who have been drunk by the age of 13, with Wales fifth and Scotland eighth. Britain also had the third highest rate of sexual activity among 13 to 15-year-old girls in the study of 17 Western European nations, with 32 per cent saying they were sexually active. The two studies used figures for 2006, the most recent year of international comparable data. The research suggest that the wellbeing of teenagers has improved far less over the past 50 years than that of children under 10.

You can read the research here: http://www.thelancet.com/series/adolescent-health-2012

Guidance for Social Workers on Alcohol & Drugs

The Tilda Goldberg Centre for Research in Social Work & Social Care (based at the University of Bedfordshire) has produced a pocket guide for social workers entitled "Alcohol and Other Drugs". The guide aims to support social workers in taking professional responsiblity for ensuring that their knowledge and skills meet the needs of service users in relation to alcohol and drugs.

You can access the guide (and other publications produced by the Centre) here: http://www.beds.ac.uk/goldbergcentre/resources

New Research Suggests the Alcohol Industry is Targeting Teeenagers

Researchers writing in the British Medical Journal claim that the alcohol industry is targeting teenagers by implying that drinking will bring friends and fun. Documents obtained by the Commons Select Committee on Health show that market research on 15-16 year olds is used to guide the development of campaigns to promote alcoholic drinks. A ban on irresponsible drink promotions and a compulsory requirement to check under 18s for IDs are among the final conditions of a proposed code for alcohol retailers announced by the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson. A link to the proposed code can be found here: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/alcohol-code-of-practice/selling-alcohol-responsibly2835.pdf?view=Binary