One in five admits to problem drinking
Effects of alcohol abuse among worst in Europe
Thursday November 26 2009
ONE in five people admits their drinking has led to problems in their work, home or social lives in the past year, new research has found.
A report by the Health Research Board revealed yesterday that personal drinking habits were creating a web of difficulties for friendships, home life and work relationships, and led to involvement in fights over the previous year -- making the problem among the worst in Europe.
"The likelihood of this happening was highest among those engaged in risky drinking every week and lowest among those who did not engage in risky drinking at all," said Dr Deirdre Mongan who co-authored the report. Risky drinking is defined as binge drinking of more than four pints or a bottle of wine.
And one in four suffered as a result of someone else's drinking, including family trouble, financial problems, assault, vandalism and being a passenger in a car with a drunk driver.
The grim picture of the havoc wreaked by alcohol comes against a background of a 30pc increase in alcohol-related offences between 2003 and 2007, according to the report.
It is estimated that 2.1 million adults engage in risky drinking here every year but alcohol-related harm is not confined to a minority of the heaviest drinkers in the population.
"In reality, it is a much greater number of low- to medium-volume drinkers in the population who drink to excess on occasion and that accounts for much of the acute alcohol-related problems, such as aggression, violence , injuries and poor work performance".
Offences
Alcohol--related offences -- drunkenness, public order incidents and assaults -- rose from 50,948 in 2003 to 66,406 in 2007, with the typical offender a young male aged 24 years or younger.
Significantly, the proportion of offences committed by under-18s increased by 54pc.
Half of all offences were committed at the weekend and just half the adult offences occurred between midnight and 4am -- with a peak at 2am.
The number of drink-driving offences increased by 74pc between 2003 and 2007 and men accounted for 90pc of the offenders.
The largest proportion of both male and female drink drivers was in the 18 to 24 age group, followed by those aged 25 to 29 years.
Over half the offences happened between midnight and 4am, and 54pc were recorded on a Saturday or Sunday.
The report expressed concern at the number of young people -- one in four -- who reported harm to their work or studies or fights as a result of regular risky drinking.
The report pointed out that children of problem drinkers are two to 10 times more likely to develop alcohol problems compared to other youngsters.
There are up to 109,000 children aged 14 years or younger whose parents are problem drinkers.
Alcohol triggers violence, affecting 25,000 victims of domestic abuse annually.
The report said the picture did not bode well for the future health and wellbeing of the population.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
Irish Independent
