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Stats reveal Jersey's drinking problem among young people

Stats reveal Jersey's drinking problem among young people

Tuesday 28 November 2017

Stats reveal Jersey's drinking problem among young people

Tuesday 28 November 2017


The latest official stats suggest that men are three times more likely than women to exceed the recommended weekly limits for drinking alcohol - and the problem is particularly bad among young people with nearly 40% of those under 34 saying they drank twice what they were supposed to.

The figures have been released as part of the latest Jersey alcohol profile, and paint a detailed picture of islanders' drinking habits. 39% of 16 to 34-year-olds reported drinking five or more units in one day, twice the recommended daily limits for both males and females.

They show that 26% of men reported exceeding the recommended weekly limit of 14 units, compared to 9% of women. 

Alcohol

Islanders reported their drinking patterns as part of the Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (JOLS).

Over half of those unemployed and looking for work who drank, reported that they drank five or more units a day.

The report compiled by the Statistics Unit also shows islanders aged 15 or over consumed a total of 12 litres of pure alcohol per year per drinker, roughly the same as in previous years.

Proportion of drinkers drinking more than 14 units in a typical week, by age and sex

Pictured: Proportion of drinkers drinking more than 14 units in a typical week, by age and sex.

Those figures are comparable to those in France, Ireland and Poland but higher than in Portugal and the UK, as shown below.

On average, households spend £20 a week on alcohol, 15% of their weekly budget for food and drink.

While the number of people seeking help for problems with alcohol has increased in the past 10 years, there were 20 fewer referrals to the Drug and Alcohol Service for problematic or dependent drinking in 2016 than the previous year, at 470. A vast majority were for alcohol treatment only, while around 20 were for alcohol problems alongside other substances. 65% of all referrals concerned males.

Alcohol consumption levels

Pictured: Alcohol consumption in Europe per person aged 15 or over. 

In 2016, there were also fewer admissions to the Hospital for a condition wholly attributable to alcohol.

There were 920 admissions in 2015 and 770 in 2016, the lowest number seen in the last five years. The majority were men (72%) and the largest number aged 55-64 years.

There were also 39 alcohol-related deaths recorded between 2014 and 2016,  2% of all deaths in Jersey - 64% of those were due to alcoholic liver disease.

Alcohol-attributable deaths 2016

Pictured: Statistics about alcohol-related deaths in 2016.

Almost 20,000 days of sickness and invalidity benefit were claimed for alcoholism in 2016. 

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