Decrease in alcohol intake among young people
News like those of two minors affected for the consumption of alcohol, one deceased and one in a coma, remind us of the danger that these substances have among the youngest. If they are already dangerous for adults, for a developing body like that of young people it is even more dangerous.
Preaching with these dangers and alerting the youngest is something parents and other adults have to do, who must ensure that new generations understand the risk of consuming these beverages. A teaching that little by little seems to be percolating among this population since the consumption of alcohol between them it is descending in all its facets.
Decrease in alcohol consumption among young people
As indicated by the Survey on drug use in Secondary Education in Spain, carried out by the Ministry of Health, in recent years the intake of alcohol has decreased among minors. Especially the "binge", modality that reached its highest point in 2008 when almost 42% of this generation took five or more drinks in the same day.
The number of young people who claim to have been drunk in the last 30 days has also fallen. While this trend increased until 2010, where 35.6% said they abused alcohol up to this point, in 2014 only 22.2% admitted having had a drink.
However, you also have to worry about the number of young people who tried alcohol in the last 30 days. More than half of this generation, almost 70% of this population, he admitted having taken alcoholic beverages during the last month. Just over 75% of this population drank this type of substance during the last year and almost 80% highlighted that they had tasted it at least once in their life.
Direct access to alcohol
Another of the worrying data of this field study is the way in which minors access these beverages. Although the Law be clear in this matter and indicate that those who are under 18 years of age can not buy alcohol, the majority of this population sector states that they were themselves who accessed these substances without help from other people.
Specifically, almost 39% of the boys and almost 35% of the girls were themselves who bought the alcohol that they later took. The second type of access most practiced is to get these drinks through people adults, something that almost 34% of the girls and almost 37% of the boys in this population sector did.
As for the most consumed beverages, combined they are preferred by minors when it comes to drinking alcohol. This was recognized by 54% of the participants in this study. The second star product is beer, which consume almost 39% of these young people when they drink alcoholic beverages.
Alcohol risk among youth and adolescents
The consumption of alcohol in the youngest has several effects that seriously affect your body. Here are some of them:
- Slow operation of the central nervous system. Being a depressant, alcohol slows down the functioning of the central nervous system and blocks some of the messages that try to reach the brain, altering the perceptions, emotions, movements, sight and hearing of a person. The processing of information becomes more difficult and the orders to the muscles do not circulate so fast.
In addition, it reduces the ability to do two or more tasks at a time and the ability to see distant objects.
- Liver problems. Alcohol contains acetaldehyde, which acts as a poison in the body. Persistent poisoning by this substance causes the liver cells to function poorly: some die and are replaced with fat and fiber. This is cirrhosis of the liver.
- Mental disorders. Alcohol in young people can lead to the appearance of long-term mental disorders and influence their emotional state, making them more prone to hostile and aggressive attitudes and developing long-term depression.
Damián Montero
