Young men are drinking less

Here's a headline you don't often see: young men drinking less!

Yes, binge drinking among young men is decreasing according to new research. But the report suggests that drinking is up in older age groups and that while fewer children are drinking, they are drinking more.

The research Drinking in the UK: An exploration of trends from the by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is not new research but a review of recent literature.

'Many people will be surprised to learn that young men's drinking, including binge-drinking, has gone down in recent years, while middle age and older people's drinking has increased,' said Lesley Smith, the report's lead author.

Average units of alcohol consumed by men and women in Great Britain have increased since 1992. For women over 25 this increase has been marked. However, consumption by men aged 16-24 has fallen since 2000.

Binge-drinking in blokes under 24 down 9%

It's the same with binge-drinking (defined as twice the recommended daily consumption of alcohol in a short period). JRF say that levels of binge drinking have changed little between 1998 and 2006 in Great Britain. However, this masks an increase of 7% in women — especially those over 25 — and a fall amongst men aged 16-24.

The proportion of women who binge-drink almost doubled between 1998 and 2006 and is now at 15% (men who binge-drink increased by 1% to 23%). However, the proportion of 16- to 24-year-old men binge-drinking decreased by 9% since 2000.

Given the media attention on binge-drinkers, the researchers were surprised to find that young adults are drinking less. However they also warned that with this age-group there was considerable variation across the different surveys studied so this should not be seen as evidence of a downward trend — it could be a blip.

Children influenced by home environment

There has been an increase in alcohol consumption amongst children (11-13 year olds). Fewer children are drinking, but those that do drink are drinking much more than they did in the past.

Possible reasons for this include higher disposable income and advertising and promotional activities which are particularly appealing to young people. (Alcohol advertising expenditure rose from £150 million to £250 million annually between 1989 and 2000; over the same period, weekly alcohol consumption by young people aged 11 to 15 years rose in a similar manner.)

However, these possibilities would not necessarily lead to different effects on younger teenagers compared to older. This led the researchers to conclude: ' the most compelling consideration when trying to explain the rising trend in consumption amongst 11- to 13-year-olds compared with older teenagers and young adults is the influence of parents, family, friends and the home environment'.

Other key findings were a narrowing of the gender gap. Men still drink more but women are catching up. Alcohol is now 65% more affordable than in 1980 so older drinkers are drinking more. And excessive weekly drinking has increased most in Northern Ireland.

• malehealth editor's blog.
• The report in full.