BALANCE is continuing its campaign to protect children and young people from alcohol, as new figures have revealed that the North-East has the highest rate of under-18s in specialist alcohol treatment in England – twice the national rate.

Work carried out by Balance, the North East Alcohol Office, has shown that during 2010-11 more than 600 under-18s were in treatment in the North-East, making up around seven per cent of the 9,450 people receiving alcohol treatment in the region.

In the North-East the number of under-18s in treatment is currently 118 per 100,000 of the population. The national average in England is 59 per 100,000 of the population.

In response to these findings Balance is relaunching its campaign calling on the government to introduce more meaningful regulations to stop the alcohol industry reaching children and young people through advertising and marketing which encourages them to drink earlier and to consume more.

Colin Shevills, Director of Balance, said: “The fact that we have the highest rates in England shows that we are getting our young people into treatment, which is a positive step.

There are some fantastic support services in the North-East and they continue to help and support hundreds of young people.

“However, we want to resolve these problems before they get to such an advanced stage and reduce the number of young lives that are affected by alcohol.

“Our region is drinking too much from an early age. This is driven by alcohol which is too affordable, too available and too heavily promoted.

“It is particularly concerning as here in the North-East we have the highest rate of 11 to 15-year-olds who drink in England and the highest rate of under-18s admitted to hospital because of alcohol.”

There are a number of obvious health risks to young people as a result of alcohol consumption, including dehydration, nausea, vomiting, anxiety and even loss of consciousness and alcohol poisoning.

Drinking alcohol can also lead to poor decision making and risk taking behaviour, making young people even more vulnerable. It is also linked to an increased risk of accident and injury; a greater likelihood of being involved in crime – either as a victim or an offender and a increase in the likelihood of smoking, taking drugs and having unprotected sex.

Figures show that:

• 40 per cent of 13-year-olds and 58 per cent of 15-year-olds who have drunk alcohol have experienced negative consequences including smoking, taking drugs and unprotected sex;
• Young people aged 18-24 who binge drink are far more likely to admit to criminal or disorderly behaviour during or after drinking (63 per cent) than other regular drinkers of the same age group;
• The UK has one of the highest percentages of 15 and 16-year-olds who have engaged in unprotected sex as a result of alcohol use.

Balance is urging people across the North- East to support its campaign by signing the petition which can be found on its website www.balancenortheast.co.uk. It calls for regulations to:


• Prevent alcohol ads from targeting children and young people;
• Prevent alcohol ads from being shown on TV and in the cinema for under-18 certificate films;
• Prevent alcohol marketing through social networking sites;
• Prevent alcohol sponsorship of sporting and youth events.

“Although the government’s Alcohol Strategy aims to turn the tide against binge drinking, it is weak on a clear strategy around the marketing and promotion of alcohol.

“This is why we need to call on government for change,” added Colin.