A 2011 survey of 14-16 year olds, commissioned by Trading Standards North West and released this week, reveals that the number of school-aged children in Stockport who drink alcohol every week has halved since 2005, and more young people say they don’t drink at all.
The main findings of the alcohol survey, which is carried out every two years in North West local authority areas, shows that, for Stockport:
The number of young people drinking alcohol once a week or more has fallen by half since 2005, to around 3 in ten;
# The number of frequent alcohol drinkers – drinking at least twice a week – has also halved since 2005, to around one in ten
# Young people who never drink alcohol has increased threefold since 2005 to two in ten
# Stockport has one of the lowest proportions of young people who alcohol ‘binge drink’ on a weekly basis in the North West.
Increased partnership working between Stockport Council’s Licensing and Trading Standards teams and the Police, with targeted under-age sales enforcement, has reduced the number of young people buying their own alcohol.
A series of drug and alcohol awareness weeks in Stockport’s secondary schools has helped young people to recognise the risks involved in alcohol and drugs.
The survey showed that those who do drink are drinking more, and the most common suppliers of alcohol are the young people’s parents, other adult family members, and friends.
Councillor Mark Weldon, Stockport Council’s Executive Member for Communities, said: “It is heartening to see that fewer school-aged children in Stockport buy alcohol compared to a few years ago. The Council works closely with the Police and licensees to crack down on under-age alcohol sales. Most licensees adopt a responsible attitude, and we take strong action against those few who do sell alcohol to children.”
Steve Watkins, Stockport’s Director of Public Health, added: “It’s good to see that increasing numbers of children and young people benefit from an alcohol-free childhood, and we are seeing fewer children admitted to hospital due to alcohol.
“However, I would ask those parents who provide alcohol to their children to think about the consequences. Short term risks, such as accidents, violence and teenage pregnancy, are well known but they may be not aware that heavy drinking in adolescence can harm the development of the brain, damage long-term memory and thinking, and is linked to anxiety, depression and alcohol dependency in adult life.”
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