Netherlands National Drug Monitor - Research and Documentation ...

Figure 7.1 Alcohol consumption among school-goers aged 12 to 18, from 1988
100
%
80
79
69
79
74
85
79
60
54
45
55
54
58
51
40
20
1988 1992 1996 1999 2003 2007
Ever
Current
Percentage of ever drinkers and in the month before the survey (current). Source: Dutch National School
Survey, Trimbos Institute.
Age and gender
• The decline in ever use and current use of alcohol reported between 2003 and 2007
occurred only in the 12 to 14 year age group (see figure 7.2, which illustrates the
trend in ever use). Accordingly, in 2007, 32% of school-goers in this age bracket
were current drinkers, compared to 47% in 2003. By contrast, alcohol use remained
stable in that period in the 15-18 year age group (76% in 2003 and 75% in 2007)
(Monshouwer et al., 2008).
• In 2007, over half of 12 year olds (56%) had ever drunk a glass of alcohol, and by
age 15 this had risen to 89%.
• In 2007 approximately the same number of girls (77%) as boys (81%) had ever taken
alcohol. Likewise, a similar percentage of girls (49%) and boys (52%) had drunk
alcohol in the past month. However, differences in drinking patterns were found
between the sexes. Boys drink alcohol more often and in greater quantities than girls.
The difference was more marked for older boys.:
- 23% of the sixteen year old boys who had drunk alcohol in the past month had
done so more than 10 times in the month, compared to 10% of the girls.
- Likewise, 23% of the group of past-month drinking 16 year old boys had drunk
on average more than 20 units of alcohol on a weekend day. For girls, the figure
was 6%.
• There are also differences between boys and girls in terms of which drinks they
prefer. Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage among boys (45% drink beer on
146 Netherlands National Drug Monitor - NDM Annual Report 2009