A third of parents of all under 16-year-olds admitted to a Mayo hospital for acute alcohol intoxication over a one year period did not visit their child for 12 hours after admission, according to a retrospective study.
In most cases the reason was because they were angry at their son or daughter being admitted in an intoxicated state.
However, the authors of the study, carried out among 56 under-16s admitted to Mayo General Hospital in 2000, said while such anger is understandable, it is important to give parents counselling on the negative effects of being angry on an ongoing basis. The adolescent may see the response of the parents to their drinking as the problem as opposed to the drinking itself.
The study, published in the latest edition of The Irish Medical Journal, said a quarter of adolescents obtain alcohol at home and parents should take steps to prevent this from recurring.
The 56 adolescents were found at various locations before being taken to the hospital: 26 on the street or roadside, 14 at a disco, nine at home, four at school or at a social gathering and three at a party in a neighbouring house.
Some 17 were found comatose, outdoors and alone and 17 had associated head injuries. Two of them were pregnant.
The mean alcohol level on admission was 215 mg, almost three times the drink-driving limit.
While the hospital referred 20 for therapy after their hospital stay, only eight turned up for the appointment.
One of the authors of the study, Dr Michael O'Neill, a paediatrician at the hospital, said alcohol misuse among adolescents needed to be tackled as part of a comprehensive national programme with specific goals and objectives.
When teaching a sensible approach to alcohol use, abstinence and moderation should be presented as equal and viable options to reduce alcohol abuse, he said.
Adolescents should also be taught about the importance of not abandoning a drunk friend who is comatose, he said.
Advertising of alcohol products should also be restricted, he added.
Anne Lucey adds: High profile names in the Cork and Kerry region are to be asked to take part in a campaign to highlight alternatives for young people to drink and drugs, a meeting of the Southern Health Board heard yesterday.
The details will be announced at a launch in the next few weeks.
However, it is understood that soccer star and Cork city man Roy Keane along with fellow county man and hurling star Setanta Ó hAilpín, now in Australia, are being approached.
The Kerry walker Gillian O'Sullivan is also likely to be asked to lend her name as is the rugby star Ronan O'Gara.
Billboard advertising involving the stars as well as a programme of targeting young people through the schools are being considered.
Cllr Damian Wallace (FF), chairman of the Southern Health Board, and of the board's drug and alcohol committee, said the aim would be to encourage young people in Cork and Kerry to put their energies into more positive activities.