44 per cent of 11-15 year olds have ever had an alcoholic drink, survey shows
2 Nov 2017 01:58 PM
44 per cent of 11 to 15-year-old pupils have ever had an alcoholic drink, 19 per cent have ever smoked cigarettes and 24 per cent have ever taken drugs, latest estimates for 2016 published today show.
NHS Digital's Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People, England: 2016 report gathers anonymous data from 11 to 15-year-olds, which is then used by the government to monitor trends and gain a better understanding of their impact.
In a survey conducted by Ipsos Mori, 12,051 students from 177 schools across England were asked questions under exam conditions about their lifestyles, including their experience of smoking, drinking and drug use, their consumption of cigarettes and alcohol over the previous week and their awareness and availability of specific named drugs.
Smoking estimates
Almost one in five pupils had ever smoked cigarettes - similar to 2014, but a significant fall from 1996 when 49 per cent of pupils had ever smoked.
The report shows:
- Girls (20 per cent) were more likely to have ever smoked than boys (18 per cent).
- 3 per cent of pupils were regular smokers (at least one cigarette a week).
- 20 per cent of regular smokers were committed to giving up; they had tried in the past and said that they would still like to. However, over twice as many (44 per cent) were unconcerned about dependence on smoking; they had never tried to give up and did not want to.
- The proportion of pupils reporting exposure to second hand smoke in a car fell from 34 per cent in 2014, to 26 per cent in 2016. A ban on smoking in cars with under-18s present was introduced by the government in 2015.
E-Cigarette Estimates
- 25 per cent of pupils reported that they had ever used e-cigarettes up from 22 per cent in 2014. Weekly e-cigarette usage remains low but has increased from 1 per cent to 2 per cent since 2014.
- E-cigarette use was strongly linked to cigarette smoking status. Most regular smokers (93 per cent) reported having ever used e-cigarettes, with 27 per cent reporting regular use. 13 per cent of non-smokers reported having ever used e-cigarettes.
Click here for full press release