Alcohol, smoking, traffic accidents. Addictions and habits of Italian children in the Istat report

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27 May 2021 Alcohol, smoking and road accidents, this and more in the habits of young and very young people at the center of the survey on pathological addictions widespread among Italian children, illustrated in the Parliamentary Commission for childhood and adolescence by the president of Istat, Gian Carlo Blangiardo.

A few numbers. In 2020, 18.2% of boys and 18.8% of girls aged 11-17 consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the year. In recent years there has been a progressive reduction in consumption over the year for children; for girls, on the other hand, a progressive increase was observed - especially starting from 2018, which brought consumption levels into line with those of male peers. 

In particular, in 2020, there was an increase of about 2 percentage points among girls compared to 2019. 

among boys is mainly an occasional consumption (17.6%) and often takes place away from meals (8 , 7%), explained the president of Istat. Among the alcoholic beverages most consumed in this age group, among males, mainly beer (14.3%) and alcoholic / bitter / spirits aperitifs (12.4%); among the girls, alcoholic / bitter / spirits aperitifs (13.5%), followed by beer (12.2%). 

Blangiardo recalled that the scientific indications of the Ministry of Health consider the level of zero consumption as a reference level for the population under the age of 18 of both sexes, so "it is absolutely relevant that, in the age group 11 -17 years, 18.5% consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the year, a value that should instead tend towards zero ". In this age group, moreover, 4.3% have the riskiest habits because they practice a daily consumption of alcoholic beverages and because they have the habit of

and / or between meals at least weekly. 

Also worrying is the fact that episodes of intoxication already reach levels between 16-17 year olds almost in line with the average population levels (6.5% compared to 7.6% of the average population aged 11 and over), with similar levels between Finally, it should be noted that among the very young of 11-17 years of age, the habit of carrying out the last episode of binge drinking in discos or clubs is more frequent than in other age groups. In this age group, if we consider only those who frequent clubs regularly (more than 12 times a year), the share of those who declare the latest episode of drunkenness in a disco or night reached 54% in 2019.

2019

with injuries to people were 223,400, a number substantially unchanged compared to the previous year: for 38.2% they are related to distracted driving, failure to comply with the rules of precedence or traffic lights and speed that is too high, but the cases for the

alcoholic that every 100 accidents rose from 1.2 in 2001 to 4.0 in 2019. They pass, however, from 0.1 to 1.4 those related to driving under

By focusing on young drivers aged 15-24, there is an increase in cases of driving under the influence of alcohol overall (every 100 road accidents involving at least one driver aged 15-24), which they go from 0.6 in 2001 to 1.3 in 2019 (per 100 accidents). Among the 15-24-year-olds, the age group for which the highest levels of the indicator are recorded is that of 20-24 years, for which the values ​​are between 0.8 in 2001 and 1.7 in 2019 (per 100 incidents). The indicator values ​​are more contained in the 15-17 age groups (0.3 in 2019) and 18-19 years (0.8 in 2019). As regards driving under the influence of drugs, for the 15-24 age group, the indicator rises from 0.07 in 2001 to 0.63 in 2019, with a substantial increase from 2015 to 2019. 

The level of the indicator for the 20-24 age group (0.7 in 2019) is higher than in the 15-17 (0.2) and 18-19 (0.6) classes. For drug-related circumstances, the numbers are smaller and more sensitive to fluctuations, particularly when analyzing age subclasses. The proportion of young drivers, aged 15-24 years, who cause road accidents while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs on the total, is about 20% for driving under the influence of alcohol and 27% for driving under the influence of alcohol. driving under the influence of drugs. The remaining 80% of drivers involved in accidents under the influence of alcohol and 73% of drugs mainly concern drivers over 24 years of age.  

In 2020, the share of young people aged 14-17 who have a habit

6.3%

. Between the ages of 18-24, this share rises to 21.9%. A decrease in the share of consumers is observed over time (they were 8% in 2010 among young people aged 14-17 and 26.8% among those aged 18-24), an effect which is however offset by the use of

. The use of the electronic cigarette - he explained - in recent years has been gradually affirming, reaching in 2020, among young people aged 14-24, 3.5% of consumers (the share is higher among males of 18-24, where it reaches 6%; among young people aged 14-17 the share is equal to 1.7%). Furthermore, as regards smoking, the behavior of parents often influences those of their children. In fact, 35.1% of children and young people aged 14-24 who live in families where both parents are smokers also have the habit of smoking, compared to 11.5% of young people who live in families with no smoker parent.