Binge drink culture ensnares child, 9

Children as young as nine are drinking regularly and there are nearly 20,000 alcoholics throughout North Yorkshire, new figures have revealed.
Research has revealed almost a fifth of boys and 12 per cent of girls aged nine to 11 in the county had been given at least one alcoholic drink in the past week when they were questioned.

The North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) study puts Harrogate above the national average for binge drinking levels. And in Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire and Selby binge drinking is also above the national average. York, meanwhile, has the highest levels.

County wide, its research suggests an estimated 18,460 "dependent drinkers" aged between 16 and 64. Using national estimates, it is thought that there are 110,956 people in the same age bracket who are drinking to hazardous or harmful levels.

With experts claiming drinking is becoming embedded in younger generations, and children being given alcohol from a very early age, the figures have led the PCT to develop a fresh strategy in a bid to reduce alcohol consumption and stifle drink-fuelled crime.

The PCT's director of public health, Dr Peter Brambleby, said: "Alcohol abuse is one of the biggest challenges we face in the NHS today, and it is a problem which is everywhere.

"It affects all sections of society from the wealthy to the most deprived communities. Alcohol is more affordable than ever before, it is heavily promoted and there has been a cultural shift towards binge-drinking in recent years."

The PCT's senior directors have agreed that the new three-year strategy should be put in place after a recent National Audit Office study into reducing alcohol harm identified gaps in service provision and prevention.

The action plan will focus on four main areas, including education as well as health and treatment services.

It will also tackle the regulation of alcohol and enforcement along with offending and the rehabilitation of excessive drinkers.

Health chiefs have acknowledged the importance of the brewing industry for the region's economy, with almost 11,000 pubs and clubs as well as more than 4,000 off-licences throughout Yorkshire.

But the PCT has warned that men who drink to excess are almost twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease and are doubly at risk of suffering a stroke.

Women who are heavy drinkers quadruple the chance of having a stroke. Yet one in four men and one in seven women exceed the recommended daily units of alcohol.

The weekly guidelines for low-risk drinking are between 14 and 21 units of alcohol for women and 21 and 28 units for men.

Harrogate Today