Reducing Alcohol-related Harm in Hong Kong Children and Adolescents Dr. T.H. LEUNG Consultant, Community Medicine (Non-Communicable Disease) Centre For Health Protection Department of Health Outline Epidemiology and surveillance of alcohol use Local data Population Health Survey 3/ Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Child Health Survey 5/6 Other researches in Hong Kong Comparison with some overseas countries Government s initiatives in reducing alcoholrelated harm 1 2 Alcohol Consumption per Capita (Aged 15+), 8 1 8 Drinking Behaviour among HK Adolescents Aged 15-17 8. 85.2 8.5 6 13.5 13.2 13. 1. 1.9 2.3 2.1 1.8. 1.1.6.8 3 Regular drinkers (drink (drank at at least once a a week) Occasional drinkers (drink (drank =/<3 days a a month) Ex-drinkers Non-drinkers Binge drinkers (have (had =/>5 can beer/5 glasses wine/ 5 pegs liquor on one occasion in last month) Base: 78 adolescents aged 15-17 Source: Population Health Survey 3/, DH & Dept. of Community Med of HKU Type of Alcoholic Beverages Consumed among HK Adolescents Aged 15-17 1 Age Cohorts on Underage Drinking Proportion of starting drinking before 18 among respondents by age group 8 6 7.2 78.7 76.3 Beer Table wine Chinese rice wine 16 12 8 7.28 7.8 1. 13.1 16.3 1.7 6. 13.3 11.9 Base: 68 adolescents aged 15-17 who had ever drunk alcohol Source: Population Health Survey 3/, DH & Dept. of Community Med of HKU 2.7.7 75 or above 65-7 55-6 5-5 35-25-3 15-2 Age group 5 Source: Population Health Survey 3/, DH & Dept. of Community Med of HKU 6 1
5 Alcohol Consumption among HK Young People 3.2 3.8 29.8 3 25.9 27. 21. 3.8.3 1..1.2.8.3.9.3 1 3. 5.9 7. 7. Ever drunk (drank at least 1 day a week) 5.3 Ever drunk (drank <1 day a week) Never drunk 5 6 7 8 9 1 Binge drinkers *Notes: Drinking at least 5 glasses/cans of alcohol on one occasion Base: ~ 13 to 17 respondents of 18- years of age Base: 2 657 children aged 11-1 Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, DH 7 Source: Child Health Survey 5/6 8 Prevalence of ever drinking and binge drinking* during the 3 days prior to the survey, 5-1 Ever drink (18-) Binge drink (18-) Ever drink (21-2) Binge drink (21-2) Ever drink (18-6) Binge drink (18-6) 1 8 6 Drinking Behaviour among HK Children Aged 11-1 91.3 88.8 9.1 1 8 6 Starting Age of Drinking among HK Children Aged 11-1. 33.2 Started at age of under 11 years Started at age of 11 years or older 3.6 55.3 37.5.3 1 8 6 Alcohol Consumption among HK Secondary Students by Sex. Ever alcohol-taking 26.2 3-day alcohol-taking 6.9 6.9 22.1 2.2 Base: 13 children aged 11-1 who had ever drunk alcohol Source: Child Health Survey 5/6 9 Source: The 8/9 Survey of Drug Use among Students, 1 Alcohol Consumption among HK Secondary Students by Age Relationship between Use of Alcohol, Tobacco & Drugs among Secondary Students 1 Ever alcohol-taking 8 6. 16.7 3-day alcohol-taking 69. 63.6 57. 25. 27.6 22.3 73.5 28.9 75.5 28.9 79.9 31.2 81.3 28.1 12 or below 13 1 15 16 17 18 19 or above Source: The 8/9 Survey of Drug Use among Students, 11 Source: The 8/9 Survey of Drug Use among Students, 12 2
1 8 6 Comparison with Selected Overseas Countries 6.9 Ever alcohol use 2.2 HK Secondary students (aged </=12-19) 72.5 1.8 3-day alcohol use 51 US Grade 9-12 UK Students (aged ~1-17) (aged 11-15) Source: HK: The 8/9 Survey of Drug Use among Students, US: Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance, 9 UK: Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England in 9 13 Comparison with Selected Overseas Countries (Drinking Prevalence by Age) percentage 1 8 6 HK UK HK 11 12 13 1 15 16 17 Age Ever use - HK Sec students (aged </=12-17) 3-day use - HK Sec students (aged </=12-17) Ever use - US Grade 9-12 (aged ~1-17) 3-day use - US Grade 9-12 (aged ~1-17) Ever use - UK students (aged 11-15) Source: HK: The 8/9 Survey of Drug Use among Students, US: Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance, 9 UK: Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England in 9 US US 1 Alcohol Use among Local University Students Survey in 5 (263 Year 1 students; 6%M; mean age 18.9y) Survey in 6 (11 Year 2 students; 38% M; mean age.y) Data collected by self-administered questionnaire 1 8 6 71.8 11.6 86.6 21.7 Ever drinking Binge drinking* 53. 2.8 8.6 Year 1 Male Year 2 Male Year 1 Female Year 2 Female 7.9 Why Do University Students Drink? Survey (self-administered questionnaire) 263 first year entrants to a HK university (6% M) Mean age: 18.9 (±1.1) years Alcohol use among ever drinkers: Notes: * Defined as having consumed 5 servings of alcohol on one occasion in the past month Sources: Kim JH, et al., 1; Griffiths S, et al., 6 15 Source: Griffiths S, et al., 6 16 Why Do University Students Drink? (cont ) Alcohol use among binge drinkers: Why Do Young People Drink? Semi-structured interview of 11 HK Chinese (6 M, 55 F) Aged 17 (M) and 16 (F) years on average Most of them claimed having 1st drink in presence of adult/ reported to their parents Youth were introduced to alcohol at home/ taste or sip from their parents beverage during dinner or family gatherings Reasons for drinking (among ever drinkers): Male (n = 27) Female (n = 26) Psychological effects (3%) Fitting in with peers (26%) Thirst (22%) Fun (15%) Escapism (11%) Fun (39%) Thirst (27%) Experimentation (27%) Escapism (15%) Removal of inhibitions (12%) Source: Griffiths S, et al., 6 17 Source: CC Lo, et al., 18 3
Observations Underage drinking Increasing trend reflected by age cohort More children drinks when they grows Effectiveness of Interventions Binge drinking in early s (characteristics of a life stage?) Knowledge gaps Parents has great influence in introducing alcohol use to their children Low awareness of alcohol-related harm 19 Effectiveness of Interventions Government s Initiatives NCD Framework for Control and Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases in HK 21 22 Action Plan to Reduce Alcohol-related Harm in Hong Kong Drawn up by Working Group on Alcohol and Health Goals: Create a sustainable environment to reduce alcohol-related harm; General public can make informed choices about alcohol consumption; Reduce burden of alcohol-related harm. Content: 5 Priority areas 1 Recommendations 17 Actions 5. Supportive health promoting legislation Five Priority Areas. Responsive Health Sector 1. Effective information system Strategic directions 3. Capacity building 2. Strengthen Partnership Launched on 2 Oct 11 23 2
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