Children who have begun binge drinking by the age of 16 are more likely to use drugs as adults, become alcoholics and acquire a string of criminal convictions, researchers at the Institute of Child Health in London said today. In a long-term study of the lives led by 11,000 British children born in 1970, they found those who drank heavily in their mid-teens encountered a wide range of social and medical problems by the age of 30.
Children who were binge drinkers at 16 were 60% more likely to be alcoholic at 30 and 70% more likely to be regular heavy drinkers. They were 40% more likely to use illegal drugs, 40% more likely to suffer mental health problems and 60% more likely to be homeless.
The research found they were 40% more likely to have suffered accidents, almost four times as likely to have been excluded from school, and 30% more likely to have gained no qualifications. The binge drinkers were also 90% more likely to have criminal convictions.
The study, by Russell Viner and Brent Taylor, defined binge drinking as "two or more episodes of consuming four or more drinks in a row in the previous two weeks". They found 20% of the boys in their sample and 16% of girls drank this amount at 16.
Results of follow-up interviews at the age of 30 were published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Dr Viner and Prof Taylor described adolescent binge drinking as "a risk behaviour associated with significant later adversity and social exclusion".
They suggested: "Binge drinking may contribute to the development of health and social inequalities during the transition from adolescence to adulthood."
The teenagers who indulged in binge drinking experienced many more problems than those who frequently drank alcohol, but in smaller amounts. This suggested that public health policy should address wider problems of adolescent risk behaviour and not be limited to restricting the availability of alcohol to teenagers, they said. Government figures last week showed 21% of children aged 11-15 reported drinking alcohol in the previous week. But the proportion of pupils saying they had never drunk alcohol rose from 39% in 2003 to 45% in 2006.
The charity Alcohol Concern said: "Though the overall number of school-aged children who drink is declining, there is a significant minority of young people who are drinking from ever younger ages and in greater quantities than before.
"The institute's study makes worrying reading. It confirms the view that early alcohol misuse can effectively haunt a young person well into adulthood, with all the implications to health and wellbeing that that can imply."
Martin Plant, professor of addiction studies at the University of the West of England, said British teenagers indulged in more binge drinking than their contemporaries in other European countries.
"The price we are paying as a society for this problem is a high level of social disorder and crime. An important part of this is the availability of cheap alcohol," he added.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "We are determined to reduce the harm caused to young people by alcohol and are committed to educating young people on the very real harm it causes.
"We are preventing the sale of alcohol to children by cracking down on irresponsible retailers and working with the industry to reduce under-age sales of alcohol whilst continuing to educate youngsters about the harm of alcohol abuse. Alcohol education now has a higher profile in schools across the country and is a major part of the national curriculum."
Health and Home Office ministers are undertaking a review of the promotional sale of cheap alcohol and happy-hour discounts as part of a drive to tackle the binge-drinking culture. But last week Alcohol Concern said the policy was being undermined by lenient advertising rules which expose hundreds of thousands of children daily to TV adverts for alcohol.
The charity found that popular family TV shows such as The Simpsons, Home and Away, Coronation Street and The X-Factor featured drinks adverts during their commercial breaks. Alcohol commercials also increased "dramatically" between 3pm and 5pm, the time when children are home from school and most likely to be watching TV.
The charity called for a 9pm watershed for alcohol adverts. At present, they can be broadcast at any time of day, provided they are not shown during programmes where children make up more than 20% of the viewers.