Youth Drinking
One of the justifications for raising the purchase age to 20 is the argument that youth drinking is worse now than in the past.
A reader has sent me a report by the Foundation for Advertising Research, which has the latest data from ALAC in it. A couple of stats readers may be interested in.
Average age of initiation of drinking by youth aged 12 – 17
- 2006/07 – 13.8 years
- 2007/08 – 14.1 years
- 2008/09 – 14.3 years
- 2009/10 – 14.6 years
A pretty clear trend there, and what most would say is a good one.
Prevalance of 12 – 17 year olds who are drinkers
- 2006/07 – 52%
- 2007/08 – 52%
- 2008/09 – 50%
- 2009/10 – 32%
And that’s a dramatic drop in the prevalance of young people drinking.
Percentage of all 12 – 17 olds who drink more than once a week
- 2006/07 – 9%
- 2007/08 – 9%
- 2008/09 – 7%
- 2009/10 – 3.5%
Again a good trend.
Percentage of all youth 12-17 that consumed 5 drinks or more on the last occasion
- 2006/07 – 21.3%
- 2007/08 – 22.9%
- 2008/09 – 19.5%
- 2009/10 – 15.0%
Again a nice downwards trend.
Again all these stats come from ALAC – the Alcohol Advisory Council.