Alcohol is far more dangerous to teenagers than previously thought and
may have long-term health and lifestyle consequences, including permanent
brain damage and financial hardship, research has found.
Teenage drinkers have a worse memory, vocabulary and general knowledge
than non-drinkers. They also do worse at school and have an increased risk
of social problems, depression, suicidal thoughts and violence, according
to a report compiled for the American Medical Association.
Binge drinking damages brains, which continue to develop up to the age
of 16, the report says. It can permanently damage the frontal lobe, which
influences personality, and the hippocampus, important in memory, the
report found.
Among the disturbing long-term effects is that teenage binge drinkers
are more likely to abuse alcohol as an adult, and are less likely to
finish their education, get married, get a job and gain financial
independence.
The report is a summary of the past two decades of research on alcohol
and young people.
The United States doctors who released it advocate strategies such as
banning alcohol advertisements, except in retail outlets, and raising the
minimum age for drinking to 21.
Professor Ian Webster, chairman of the Alcohol Education and
Rehabilitation Foundation, said yesterday that the acute impact of alcohol
on young people was becoming more widely recognised.
Alcohol was a significant factors in road accidents, suicide and
depression, which were the main causes of death and illness in people aged
18-24, he said.
"In fact, the peak time of life for alcohol use disorders is that
period of 18-24 years."
About 40 per cent of Australian teenagers drink alcohol occasionally;
30 per cent drink once a week or more, and 5-6 per cent drink amounts that
could harm them, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says.
This compares to about 30 per cent of adults drinking occasionally, 50
per cent drinking regularly and 5-10 per cent drinking amounts that could
harm them.
Drinking among teenagers has been fairly consistent over the past 20
years of national surveys. The one significant change is that if teenagers
drink, they are more likely to binge than previous generations did.
The vice-president of the Australian Medical Association, Trevor Mudge,
said yesterday that his members were concerned about the aggressive
marketing of alcohol to young people.
"We're concerned about mixer drugs, happy hours, things like that. You
get the industry dressing up alcohol as wine coolers and smothering the
flavour with fruit drinks," he said.
"And I'm sure we reflect a community concern there."
Alcohol advertising is limited by the industry's self-regulatory
Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code. It stipulates that
advertisers "must not depict the consumption or presence of alcohol
beverages as a cause of or contributing to the achievement of personal
business, social, sporting, sexual or other success".
Complaints about breaches of the code are made to the industry's
Advertising Standards Bureau. Of 1705 complaints last year, the bureau
upheld 47. Only 2 per cent of the complaints were about
alcohol.
