A report to be published today on underage drinking has found that 42 per cent of 14-year-olds surveyed had consumed alcohol in the month before the survey.
The survey, Teenage Alcohol, Smoking and Drug Use in the Mid-West Region, also found that 22 per cent of 14-year-olds reported that they had been "binge drinking" or had consumed five consecutive drinks in the 30 days before the survey. The survey, to be presented today to members of the Mid-Western Health Board at its November meeting, also highlights increased rates of smoking and drug abuse by teenagers in the mid-west in the four years since the previous survey.
The survey was carried out last year among 2,297 post-primary students in 23 schools across the region and is a follow-up to a similar survey in 1998.
The report also found that 42 per cent of 14-year-olds had consumed alcohol in the month before the survey.
It reported that drinking rates increased with age: 44 per cent of 15-year-olds said they had consumed alcohol in the previous 30 days, and this increased to 68 per cent of 16-year-olds and 77 per cent of 17-year-olds.
The report noted that alcohol consumption was higher among girls than boys and that beer and cider were the preferred drinks for boys, while girls preferred alcopops and spirit.
The report also found that 44 per cent of 16-year-old students had been drunk in the month before the survey, while during that time 51 per cent of 16-year-olds had consumed five drinks or more.
While 85 per cent of students surveyed were under age for drinking alcohol, 62 per cent of those surveyed had consumed it in the 30 days before the survey.
Commenting on the report, Dr Kelleher said that it proved that alcohol use by young people in the mid-west region was still at undesirable levels.
He said: "The increased rates among young females should be of concern.
"The fact that high proportions of respondents thought it would be very/fairly easy to get alcohol if they wished would suggest that more stringent methods for preventing access to alcohol are needed."
The report found that teenagers who had smoked at least once had increased by 3 per cent to 61 per cent in the four years since the previous survey.
It noted that 52 per cent of female students and 46 per cent of male students had smoked their first cigarette at the age of 13 or earlier.
The study also found that 61 per cent of smokers said they wanted to give up smoking, while 40 per cent of current smokers said they smoked because they were addicted to cigarettes, but 28 per cent reported that they liked smoking.
According to the the survey, the use of illicit drugs has increased considerably in the mid-west since the initial study in 1998. It found that the proportion of students who had used drugs at least once was now at 39 per cent, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous survey.
