Drinking by Young People in England in 2010

Key Messages

• More young people have not had a drink than have drunk alcohol.

• The proportions who drank in the last week have halved, from 26% in 2001 to 13% in 2010.– But by the time they reach 15 years 1 in 5

are drinking at least weekly.• Of that group 36% are drinking 15 or more units.

• Those who drank in the last week reported drinking more than in 2009.

Have you ever drunk alcohol?

Never drunk alcohol by age

Proportions who drank in the last week

Frequency of drinking

Mean number of units consumed by those who drank in the last

week

Units of alcohol drunk in the last week by those who reported drinking, by age

Key Messages

• Parents and friends are the key sources of alcohol, with ‘asking someone to buy it’ coming third.– 1 in 10 15 year olds said they stole alcohol from

home in the last 4 weeks.– Heavy drinkers (15+ units in the last week) are

5 times more likely (27%) to have stolen alcohol from home in the last 4 weeks than the average young person (5%).

• Parties have become an increasingly important venue for young people’s drinking, up from 23% in 1996 to 44% in 2010.

How alcohol was obtained in the last four weeks

Where those who drank 15 or more units in the last week obtained alcohol in the last 4

weeks

Where do you usually buy alcohol?

Where do you drink?

Key Messages

• 14% of all young people have been drunk in the last 4 weeks.– Over half (54%) of those who had drunk

any alcohol in that period had been drunk.– Of those who had been drunk over half

(59%) had deliberately tried to get drunk

• 1 in 10 15 year olds have been drunk 3 or more times in the last month.

Whether pupils have drunk alcohol andbeen drunk in the last four weeks

Of those who had been drunk the proportion that had deliberately tried to get drunk in

the last four weeks

The more times you are drunk the higher the risk of adverse

consequences

Key Messages• More young people think their parents don’t

approve of them drinking (51%), than don’t mind as long as it isn’t too much (48%).

• Young people are increasingly intolerant to their peer group drinking and getting drunk.– However, by the time they are 15 years old

nearly a quarter (23%) agree with the statement that it is ‘okay to get drunk once a week’.

• Young people who drink are more likely to think that their age group do so for reasons associated with sociability, while non-drinkers emphasis looking cool and peer pressure.

Young people’s perceptions of parental attitudes to their drinking by age

Attitudes to drinking alcohol and getting drunk

Attitudes at 15 years

Why do people of your age drink?

Key Messages

• Most young people (60%) remember getting some alcohol education in the last year.

• Parents (75%) and teachers (67%) are seen as the most helpful people to go to for information about alcohol.

• The TV (71%) is seen as the most important media source of helpful information about alcohol.

Pupil’s recall of alcohol education in the last year

Pupil’s recall of alcohol education by year group and sex

Who are helpful sources of information about alcohol?

Where do you get helpful information about alcohol