The American Medical Association ran a series of ads in the National Press with the headline ‘Warning, watching NBC ( a TV station which had broken a 54 year old agreement not to carry spirits ads) may be hazardous to your children’s health’ in late February. Research was cited from CASA claiming that ‘young people between 12-20 account for 25% of all alcohol consumed in the US’. The stats were drawn from the 1998 National Household survey on drug abuse published by the Dept of Health and Human services. 25,500 people, including 9,759 between the ages of 12 and 20 were questioned in their homes. .

"Underage drinking has reached epidemic proportions in America," claimed Joseph Califano Jr., president of CASA at Columbia University, which issued the report.The report, which analyses two years’ research, also claimed that nearly a third of high school students say they binge drink at least once a month.

The Dept. of Health and Human services refuted the statement saying the true figure was half the 25% stated at 11.4%, for while the 12-20 age group represented 38% of those surveyed, they account for about only 13% of the total population, and the government results took this age discrepancy into account.The industry was quick to respond - Susan Molinari, a former republican Congressman and chair of the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS) while agreeing that underage drinking is unacceptable reminded the press that the exaggerations ‘ fuel the misperception among youth regarding the level of their peers consumption’ and she drew attention to creditable data which shows ; ‘consumption among high school seniors is down by nearly 9% in the last 10 years, 15% among 10th graders and 26% among 8th grade students’.

Meanwhile, headlines in the UK ran ‘Drinking, smoking and drug use on the rise among children’ and ‘Alcohol abuse costing health service £3bn a year’. Further reports focus on the irresponsible drinking of women..

Dr Chris Luke of Cork University Hospital said the National Health Service would collapse unless lifestyle issues such as alcohol are tackled.

The press headlines, based largely on figures released in a report published by Alcohol Concern cite their source for 33,000 deaths ‘linked to alcohol’ or 5000 deaths actually attributable to alcohol on figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

On studying comprehensive data from the ONS the assumptions are proved tenuous indeed, death from all liver disease is attributed by Alcohol Concern to alcohol for example. Furthermore the ONS paper ‘Smoking drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2000’ stated in its summary ‘24% of pupils had had an alcoholic drink in the previous week. This proportion has fluctuated between 20 and 27% since the question was introduced in 1988, but with no sustained increase over time. Drinking was strongly related to age ..5% of 11 year olds had drunk alcohol in the last week compared to 48% of 15 year olds’.What is true is that the 24% who drink are drinking more (approximately 10 units of 8g a week).

A further study by the ONS concludes ‘the vast majority of Britons drink in moderation or not at all’ 52% of women and 35% of men had not consumed alcohol in the last week, just 8% of women had drunk more than 6 units of 8g on one day in the last week. (drinking adults behaviour and knowledge 2000 ONS)

A recent study by the industry funded UK Portman Group has exposed the unreliability of hospital admission figures related to alcohol and specifically to violence. The study, conducted independently by the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford found that 25% of police forces kept no record of alcohol related crime and that Accident and Emergency consultants ‘ are deeply divided on the extent to which alcohol contributes to injuries’.

No-one is questioning that under-age drinking is an issue or that alcohol is misused by a small proportion of the adult population. What is aggravating is the ‘grab the headlines’ approach by largely respectable bodies who are using unsubstantiated figures and scaremongering to gain publicity and overstate recognised problems. The trend to work towards more accurate recording of alcohol’s role in society, both good and bad is to be applauded. Only then can programmes be effectively targeted and implemented.