The number of white British teens admitted to hospital for alcohol-related conditions has risen by 82% in the last decade.
The startling figure comes to light just one day after new research found alcohol-related injury and illness accounts for 14% of all A&E attendance.
Department of Health figures show young girls needing medical attention for drink has soared by 22% since 2002, compared to a rise of just 1.7% for boys.
Under-18s admitted to hospital for alcohol in the most deprived 10% of society rose by 15%.
But the number of teens admitted for drink-related problems were up in all socio-economic groups, rich or poor.
Public health minister Anne Milton responded to the figures in a written answer.
She said: "The figures include estimates based on admissions involving conditions that are partially attributable to alcohol, as well as counts of admissions involving conditions wholly attributable to alcohol."
The figures include teens who have been admitted on more than one occasion, she added.
The government recently launched its alcohol strategy to reduce the number of people drinking to harmful levels.
A Department of Health spokesperson told TP:
"These figures confirm a level of harm that is unacceptably high. Through our Alcohol Strategy we want to reduce the number of people drinking to harmful levels by putting a sensible price on those drinks that cause harm, through minimum unit pricing.
"We have overhauled the Licensing Act to give more powers to local licensing authorities to tackle problem premises. We have also taken one billion units out of the UK's alcohol intake through the Responsibility Deal."
Comments
ZenithB / June 24 2012 9:57am
It doesn't seem that imposing more and more restrictions from without will really ever help in tackling this alcohol scourge. A hard core will always find ways and means of circumventing them.
What drives people (and not necessarily young ones) to drink so, despite the pains and sufferings they thereby inflict upon themselves?
That is the fundamental question that needs to be answered, with good approximation, through multidisciplinary research, although we are not entirely ignorant of the facts now.
Many of us do know there could be an emptiness in our lives (aggravated in hard times) which we have tried to compensate for in destructive ways, before we found inside and outside of ourselves its more natural cure.
It's the point in our culture where help is needed, cutting out all semblance.