Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Alcohol abuse among German youths more than sobering

Recent cases of teen and even child alcohol binges are indications of increasing abuse by younger Germans, as an alarming new report published by a German health insurance company reveals.

Just last week, three children aged 11, 12 and 13 were found passed out at a playground in the city of Paderborn after drinking vodka. The most recent cases of alcohol abuse by minors highlight a steady and alarming increase of binge drinking by German youths.

“We are observing with concern that people being brought into hospital with suspected alcohol poisoning are getting younger and younger. Even kids under the age of 15 are coming to hospitals completely drunk,” Norbert Klusen, CEO of the TK health insurance company, told this weekend’s edition of the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper.

TK statistics revealed that between 2007 and 2008 considerably more children under the age of 15 had been taken to hospital because of presumed alcohol poisoning. If extrapolated to all children in that age group this would add up to nearly 2,400 cases of alcohol abuse.

The figures for adolescents under the age of 18 were equally sobering.

A hand reaches to take an alcopop from a supermarket shelfBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: When consumed in excess, alcopops can be just as harmful as other alcoholic drinksAccording to TK’s figures, the number of hospitalizations rose by 174 to 1,765 year-on-year. If projected to all youths in that age bracket, this adds up to some 20,000 so-called “coma bingers.”

Klusen warned that supermarkets, gas stations and restaurant and pub owners had to take on more responsibility in checking the ages of their customers. He said it was a problem “if a bottle of beer, a glass of wine and a cigarette while watching television with the family were always present.”

The health expert of the Social Democrats (SPD), Karl Lauterbach, demanded in the same newspaper that alcohol sales laws be tightened. He said that all adolescents who want to purchase alcohol be required to show proper proof of age. Lauterbach also called for stiffer penalties for retailers and restaurant owners who illegally sell alcohol to minors.

source: Deutsche Welle

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Alcohol abuse

Alcohol is daily consumed all over the globe. Alcohol is a drink which has the power to make psychoactive changes in the brain of the human body. Alcohol, when consumed regularly and in large quantities is sure to affect the physical well being of the person. People tend to be alcohol addicted because they enjoy….

Stony Brook program on binge drinking raises interest

A new Stony Brook University initiative to prevent the consequences of binge drinking has sparked nationwide interest from more than 100 colleges, universities and high schools that want to replicate the program on their campuses. “So many people who have been affected by the loss of a loved one or an acquaintance or a friend….

Drug and Alcohol Treatment Myths Debunked

There are many myths about drug and alcohol treatment and the things that you can expect (or should not expect) to get out of treatment. If you are thinking that by getting help for a drug or alcohol addiction that once you are done with treatment you will magically be healed and won’t have to….

Boozy girls out of their tiny minds

Scotland’s deadly underage binge-drinking epidemic has seduced a new generation of “pocket-money boozers” – and most of them are Girls. The shocking news comes in a Scottish Sun investigation which shows 3,799 under-16s were treated in hospital for alcohol-related problems in the last five years – some of them as young as Nine. And disturbingly,….

Early tipple 'breeds alcoholism'

Parents who introduce their children to alcohol in the hope of encouraging responsible drinking might be doing more harm than good, work suggests. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found drinking before the age of 15 increased a child’s risk of becoming a heavy drinker. A teenager’s fast-developing brain becomes programmed to link….