How to stop youths binge drinking

Girls in Britain and Nordic countries binge drink just as often as boys, according to a thesis by Anna-Karin Danielsson of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the Karolinska Institutet. The thesis examines 1,200 pupils ages 13 to 19 over a period of five years, starting in 2001, according to a press release published on March 7.

“Sixteen-year-old girls in the Nordic countries and the UK binge drink to the same extent as boys, in other words at least five consecutive drinks in one go,” said Danielsson. “We’re also seeing a strong correlation between this and problems such as fights, accidents and unwanted sexual relationships.”

Her data also showed an important way to stop teens getting in trouble with alcohol. “Initiatives that focus on strengthening the parent-child relationship and limiting parental provision of alcohol can prove effective in limiting risky consumption among adolescents,” she said. “Parents also play an important role when it comes to teaching young people how to resist peer pressure to drink.”

Both girls and boys respond differently to parental involvement, she found, but both need it. “The risk of high alcohol consumption among boys who smoke and who have friends who drink is considerably reduced when parents keep an eye on what teenagers get up to, and with whom,” she said. “Whereas girls in the risk zone benefit most from an emotionally stable and close parent-child relationship in terms of protective effect.”

Her research supports what the Trumpet has been saying for years. In order to fix Britain’s social problems, like binge drinking, Britain’s families must be fixed.