Binge drinking, 120,000 minors resort to an “alcohol binge” – breaking latest news

It’s called binge drinking, from the English term binge which means binge and indicates a voluntary consumption of alcohol equal to six or more glasses on one occasion, often with the express intention of voluntarily and quickly achieving a state of intoxication. A behavior that can expose you to many risks and which is spreading among the youngest together with an expansion of the overall consumption of alcohol. That of binge drinking a widespread practice especially among adolescents
especially on weekends they say Lorenzo D’Antonio and Chiara Esposito, doctors specializing in Pediatrics at the Federico II University of Naples, and who at the tenth national congress of the Italian Society of Pediatric Primary Care (SICuPP), held in Turin in recent days, dealt with the thorny topic ofalcoholism in childhood.

The data of the ISS

Data from the Higher Institute of Health (ISS) they estimate that in 2020 nearly 50 percent of boys and 45 percent of girls between the ages of eleven and 25 consumed at least one alcoholic beverage, Esposito says. In particular, there are 750,000 minors between the ages of eleven and 17 who have consumed alcohol in the same year, accounting for about 18 percent of males and about 19 percent of females. Alarming dataif you consider that within this category, alcohol consumption should be zerofor the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages. According to the ISS, all children under the age of 18 who have consumed even just one alcoholic beverage, and all people, regardless of age, who have binge-drank at least once a year are to be considered consumers at risk.

Insecurity and anxiety disorders

In fact, the spread of binge drinking among minors is especially worrying. Data indicate that there are 120,000 binge drinkers between the ages of 11 and 17 says Esposito. This practice increases in adolescence to reach maximum values ​​between 18 and 24 years. Furthermore, the increasing trend from 2014 onwards, with a more marked increase for women. Binge drinking is also sometimes used as tool to alleviate insecurities or anxiety disorders, widespread among adolescents, and increasing in the post-COVID era.

The risks: aggression and road accidents

The risks associated with these acute alcohol abuses
are directly due to the substance
but also at behavioral alterations which induces. In addition to the direct risks deriving from acute alcohol intoxication, says D’Antonio, we must add those attributable to the state of drunkenness, which involves a decline in sensory and behavioral functions and a reduction in risk perceptionalready physiologically deficient in the adolescent, from which risky behaviors arise, such as straight and self-aggression and drink driving.

Own road accidentsaccording to ISTAT estimates, are the cause of about 40 percent of adolescent deaths, representing the leading cause of death in this age group; of these, over a quarter are attributable to alcohol. In an interview conducted by the staff of the Campania 118, it emerged that over 40 percent of young people involved in road accidentsat least once he had driven or got into a car driven by a person in a state of intoxication.

The abuse

Immediate risks to which must be added the effects on health of a possible chronic alcohol abuse, with an increase in the incidence of various diseases, such as cardiovascular, oncological and liver diseases. However, they must be reported various educational initiatives that have been activated for the prevention of binge drinking says Esposito, even if the data show that they are insufficient. Furthermore, prevention interventions are carried out in an uneven way between the various Regions, in the absence of a common reference guideline and of a homogeneous structuring of services. A very positive example the Pullman Azzurro initiative of the State Police, a bus that travels through Italy in order to teach road safety to school students and which allows, through a simulation with special glasses, to test what it means to drive while intoxicated. Such initiatives, which make the danger tangible, should be routinely proposed in schools.

The countermeasures

Much could also be done in terms of combating the sale of alcohol to minors, and awareness raising on the risks of alcohol abuse to be carried out in schools, universities, family doctors’ and paediatricians’ offices. The pediatrician is the trusted doctor responsible for the protection of childhood and adolescence and has known the family and the boy since birth and accompanies them in their growth and education, promoting correct lifestyles says Emmanuelle Malorgia, pediatrician of the ASL City of Turin and vice president of SICuPP. This happens especially during the “health checks”scheduled visits dedicated to the prevention and recognition of warning signs of pathologies or behavioral disorders, including the inappropriate use of alcohol.

The families

A game which, however, cannot be won only through educational initiatives aimed at adolescents, who by their very nature love excess and recognize the dangers with extreme difficulty. Silvia Gambottovice president Piedmont SICuPP. An educational program aimed at their families is also needed, which must start from the very first meetings with the new parents. The problem of binge drinking and alcohol use in childhood was addressed during the X SICuPP national congress along with other typical themes of adolescence, such as correct eating behavior and its disorders, sexuality, self-harm, social isolation, use and abuse of devices, sport. And finally, to reduce alcohol-related accidents concludes D’Antonio, Municipalities could establish fixed and economic rates for dedicated taxi services to adolescents, in order to allow them to avoid driving during the “hot” days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.