Alcohol use in post-primary school children

The prevalence of alcohol use of Irish post-primary schoolchildren has been reported on numerous occasions over the past five years. A study of drinking patterns in 294 schoolchildren aged 14 to 17 from single sex and mixed sex schools is presented. The age at first drink for boys was 11.7 years, and for girls 12.3 years. Eighty percent of boys had ever drank compared to 66% of girls. 59% of boys were regular drinkers compared to 54% of girls. Both these parameters were equal for boys from single sex and mixed schools but girls from mixed sex schools had a higher prevalence of drinking than girls from single sex schools. Beer was by far the favourite drink of boys whereas wine was the favourite drink of girls. Girls were more likely to drink at home than boys. The results of the present study will be compared with other recent prevalence studies of teenage alcohol use in Ireland. Many findings are similar but the separate analysis of single and mixed sex schools is new.