When it got here to present use – outlined as having drunk a minimum of as soon as within the final 30 days – eight per cent of 11-year-old boys reported having finished so, in comparison with 5 per cent of women.
However by age 15, women had overtaken boys, with 38 per cent of women saying they’d drunk a minimum of as soon as within the final 30 days, whereas solely 36 per cent of boys had.
“These findings spotlight how out there and normalised alcohol is, exhibiting the pressing want for higher coverage measures to guard youngsters and younger individuals from harms attributable to alcohol,” mentioned WHO Europe – which gathers 53 international locations together with a number of in Central Asia.
As well as, 9 per cent of youngsters reported having skilled “vital drunkenness” – having been drunk a minimum of twice.
The WHO mentioned this fee climbed from 5 per cent amongst 13-year-olds to twenty per cent for 15-year-olds, “demonstrating an escalating pattern in alcohol abuse amongst youth”.
COSTLY CONSEQUENCES
The report additionally highlighted the elevated use of e-cigarettes – usually known as vapes – amongst youngsters.
Whereas smoking is declining, with 13 per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds having smoked in 2022, two share factors lower than 4 years earlier, the report famous that a lot of them have as an alternative adopted e-cigarettes – which have overtaken cigarettes amongst adolescents.
Round 32 per cent of 15-year-olds have used an e-cigarette, and 20 per cent reported having used one within the final 30 days.
“The widespread use of dangerous substances amongst youngsters in lots of international locations throughout the European Area – and past – is a severe public well being risk,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge mentioned in a press release.
