loneliness, anxiety, depression and inadequate parental communication led to a rise in the number of juvenile drinkers in the country in 2015. As per a survey, the percentage increased more during festive seasons
Noting with concern, an ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF) has found in a survey that youngsters are taking to drinking at a much younger age now, much below 18 years, a trend more visible during the festive season of Christmas and New Year celebrations.
A host of factors including peer pressure, increased media exposure, increasing culture of eating out culture and more disposable money at the hands of youngsters are the principal reasons for under-age drinking habits, the ASDF found.
“In a way, it is a juvenile drinking... hopefully, it does not decelerate into other social ills. Parents have a larger responsibility to ensure that juveniles taking to drinks at late night parties do not take recourse to driving making it more unsafe in northern Indian cities which see fogs,” said DS Rawat, secretary general, ASSOCHAM while releasing the ASDF report stated, adding that the radio taxi aggregators like Ola, Uber and others should be used by those going out for late night celebrations.
The foundation which takes up the social issues like gender equality, women safety, labour welfare and sanitation said that human resource is critical to nation-building. He said, “This nation which is aspiring to achieve higher growth and new place in the global landscape must not overlook interest of the youngsters especially at a time when they are passing through the most critical juvenile stage.”
The ASDF survey noted that in big cities like Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa and Chandigarh, even school kids aged 14 onwards get into the drinking habit.
The survey in which more than 1,770 youngsters (14 to 29) took part, a quarter of respondents reported that between `2,000 and `10,000 are spent on only on alcohol during Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations in big cities. While majority of juvenile drinking is found among boys, girls, too, are taking to it in big numbers thanks largely to peer pressures.
Most of the respondents are from affluent families from Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, Hyderabad, Ahemdabad, Kolkata, Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Dehradun. It came out that besides in Goa, the consumption of liquor is more in vogue in Delhi-NCR, followed by Mumbai, Bangalore and Chandigarh. A previous ASSOCHAM study had found usage of alcohol has also resulted in deliberate self-harm, high-risk sexual behaviour, HIV infection, tuberculosis, oesophageal cancer, liver disease, duodenal ulcer and many more.
Prenatal exposure to alcohol, poor parent-child relationships and inadequate parent-child communication, conduct disorders, rebelliousness, depression, anxiety, academic problems, positive attitudes about alcohol, stress and poor coping skills all contribute to drink alcohol, it had said.
About sixty nine per cent of youngsters aged between 20 to 29 admitted binge drinking during the New Year season, with men more likely to drink too much than women, adds the survey.
“More than 52 per cent of teens who admitted drinking said they drink when they are upset, eight per cent said they drink alone, two percent said they drink when they are bored, and 47 percent said they drink to get high”, the survey said.
Teenage boys are much more likely than teenage girls to say they have tried alcohol. Fruit-flavoured alcoholic beverages are particularly appealing to girls who often do not like the taste of alcohol, claimed the ASSOCHAM findings.
The survey points out that low pricing, a lack of standardised proof of age schemes and poor enforcement makes it easy for unscrupulous retailers to sell to underage kids. Introducing on-the-spot fines for selling drink during the Christmas/ New Year celebrations to under-19s, proof of age before purchasing, may reduce the consumption of alcohol.
“There has been a marked increase in alcohol consumption among teenagers and are strongly influenced by males in the family,” said Rawat. The survey also found that a third of Delhi’s residents consume alcohol thrice a week during the festive season.
Reasons for alcohol consumption
· lack of supervision.
· Peer pressure.
· Depression.
· Easy access to alcohol.
· Family or academic problems.
· Stress and poor coping skills.
· Sneaking booze.
· Cafes and fast-food joints serve beer.
· Hookah lounges in metros, flavoured hookah often has alcohol as base, especially vodka or wine.
· survey by ASSOCHAM