Alcohol consumption amongst teenage girls. Essay

Submitted By vkvrish
Words: 2234
Pages: 9

Topic: Alcohol consumption amongst teenage girls.
Aim:
The aim of this review is to find out:
How alcohol consumption is being managed by the teenage female population throughout the UK, whether it is increasing or decreasing.
The causes of alcohol consumption among the teenage girls in UK.
Introduction:
Alcohol is a very common beverage among most of the UK citizens, so common that it has found its way in most household throughout the country. Its consumption varies from responsible and reasonable drinking to addiction or heavy intake. Alcohol has become more affordable in the twenty-first century than in the 1980’s. Since it is readily available anywhere, it has created a major impact on the youth, specially the female teenagers. Excess consumption of alcohol among teenagers has led them to health problems, some short-terms others unfortunately on long-terms till their adulthood.
Method:
The review was analysed and answered using different evidences, surveys and reports on various studies. All the materials that were used for this essay had to meet a set of criteria in accordance with the consumption of alcohol among the young girls. There was a set of criteria which was needed to be respected and they were:
The teenage girls had to be from UK only, not global.
The reports had to be over a reasonable lapse of time, for the purpose of this essay, the time period was between 1980’s and 2010.
The age samples were mainly between 11 and 16 year old, it happened that a few statistics included 16-18 year old teenagers.
Reports and surveys during the stated time period were based mainly on the amount or quantity of alcohol consumed, the habit of drinking (the frequency of intake), binge drinking, the cost and sale of alcohol during the past decade.
The report did not focus on the accidents, crimes and mortality rates due to alcohol consumption.

The studies on alcohol among teenage girls were selected after identification by using various search engines. The searches were carried out precisely using the online medical libraries or newspapers such as the MEDLINE or BBC, THE GUARDIAN or DAILYMAIL online articles. Also deeper research was made using the internet search browser GOOGLE SCHOLAR. The wordings or phrases used were related to the topics namely: “alcohol in UK”, “alcohol among teenage girls”, “alcohol consumption in UK”, “alcohol statistics among female youth in UK”. Websites of the National Health Service (NHS), Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) were also referred.
Results:
The research resulted in some interesting trends, namely:
1. An increase in alcohol consumption amongst women
2. An increase in alcohol consumption amongst very young teenagers
3. The number of young women treated due to excessive alcohol consumption has risen by 90 per cent over the last five years
4. Teenage girls have outnumbered male drinkers by three times
5. Teenage girls have been increasingly become victims of ‘binge drinking’

To begin with, there are two important terms which need to be defined for the purpose of this review. They are binge’ and ‘units’ of alcohol. The term ‘binge drinking’ was first introduced as a medical definition which consisted of an extended drinking session which lasted for days. Until recently that it was used to demonstrate drinking a large amount of alcohol in one go till intoxication resulted. The definition of a unit is approximately that to a single bar room measure of spirits of half a pint of normal strength beer.
The situation regarding alcohol consumption in the UK, from evidence as from 2007 showed that there was a change on the drinking habit amongst young people. According to Fuller 2008, the volume of alcohol consumed among young people aged between 11-15 years has more than doubled during the past decade. There was an increase among girls who never tasted alcohol before. As for those who were already drinking