The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has released research on Australian male’s drinking habits which shows that young adults are consuming alcohol at riskier levels than older men.
The Institute’s research also found that adolescent males were carrying early drinking habits with them into adulthood.
The Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health report found alcohol use to be prevalent among adult males, with around nine in 10 Australian men aged 18 and over having consumed alcohol in the past 12 months.
Research Fellow with the AIFS, Brendan Quinn said that while the majority of Australian men typically drank at levels considered to be low risk, young adult males aged 18-to-24 were significantly more likely to engage in moderate-to-high risk alcohol use than older men.
“National guidelines recommend that adolescents and children avoid alcohol until the age of 18 years,” Dr Quinn said.
“However, approximately four in 10 adolescent Australian males aged 15-to-17 years were estimated to have consumed alcohol in the past 12 months.”
He said that of that group, a further four in 10 usually engaged in ‘binge’ drinking, consuming more than four standard drinks in a single session, and around one in 10 consumed 10 or more standard drinks in a typical session.
The report, which investigated the drinking habits of Australian males aged 10 years and older, also found that drinking before the recommended age of 18 years was associated with more frequent alcohol use in early adulthood.
“Almost half of adolescent drinkers surveyed in 2013-14 had gone on to drink alcohol at moderate-to-high-risk levels in early adulthood, compared to just 20 per cent who had not been drinking at all in adolescence,” Dr Quinn said.
Director of AIFS, Anne Hollonds said that reducing the number of males starting to drink in adolescence was crucial to the long-term health of men.
“It is important that parents and adolescents understand that avoiding alcohol until adulthood is best to prevent harmful habits forming early,” Ms Hollonds said.
“Compared to females, males, and especially young males who binge drink, are more commonly affected by alcohol-related harms.”
She said these could range from relatively common feelings of guilt or regret, blackouts, or failure to show up for work or family, but could also include alcohol-related injury, diseases like cirrhosis and cancer, or death.
