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

Neural Processing Differences in ADHD in Individuals With and Without Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

The adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on behavioral, cognitive, and social development can lead to a range of symptoms referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Attention and cognition problems seen in individuals with a history of prenatal alcohol exposure often resemble those linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). An assessment of….

5 Signs Your Teen Needs Eating Disorder Treatment

Eating disorders frequently appear first during the teen years, but may develop during childhood or at any time of life. Eating disorders can be caused by genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors. Girls are more than two and a half times as likely as boys to have an eating disorder. Common eating disorders include….

Children who smoke cannabis are twice as likely to offend

Children who smoke cannabis are twice as likely to get into trouble – both in the classroom and outside the school gates. Boys turn to vandalism, theft and fights, while girls misbehave at school, a four-year study of thousands of pupils aged between 11 and 15 found. Young males are also up to twice as….

What to Expect in Treatment Centers

In 2009, as many as 23.5 million Americans needed treatment for alcohol and drug addictions, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Of that number, only 11.2 percent or 2.6 million people actually sought out treatment. When considering the wide range of treatment centers available for both alcohol and drug addictions, anyone suffering from….

Was It OK to Insist That He Receive Alcohol Treatment?

If an employer requires an employee to complete an inpatient alcohol treatment as a condition of keeping his job, does it regard him as an alcoholic? What happened. “Clark” worked for Seward County, Nebraska, from 1981 until 2005. He was a Vietnam veteran who suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and took medication to control….