More children drink and take drugs

Children as young as 11 are smoking, drinking and taking drugs in greater numbers, despite initiatives to improve the health of young people, a government report says today.

After a decrease in recent years, the figures are rising again, prompting renewed concern among doctors and youth workers that the problem is spiralling out of control.

One per cent of the country's 780,000 11-year-olds say they smoke regularly, compared with 22 per cent of 15-yearolds. Children are more likely to take up the habit if their parents or siblings smoke, according to researchers.

One fifth of 11- to 15-year-olds claim to have taken drugs, with 13 per cent of those surveyed admitting to having experimented with cannabis.

Rosie Brocklehurst, of Addaction - a leading treatment charity for drug and alcohol users - said many young people ended up on the scrapheap because of a lack of professional help.

She said: "We have known for a long time that smoking and drinking tends to lead to heavy drug use. If children try alcohol and cigarettes between the ages of 11 and 14, they may well go on to try ecstasy, amphetamines and other drugs like heroin when they are 14, 15 and 16.

"There is very little intervention for young people at the age when they are most vulnerable, which means that by 17 and 18 they are often in serious trouble - no longer in school, jobless, with behavioural problems and getting involved in crime.

"If we track back through the records of people with heroin and crack problems, we find it all started with cigarettes and alcohol. And alcohol is the most potentially damaging because it's easy to get hold of and its effects can be so severe.

"We are not going to resolve the problem of addiction in society overnight but it helps greatly if parents know which signs to look out for.

"That doesn't mean shutting down the lines of communication and handing out punishments but talking to young people and making sure they are aware of the risks."

Ms Brocklehurst added: "As far as treatment is concerned, it is a postcode lottery - and many of the worst problems are in London."

Sociologist Dr Karen O'Reilly, of Aberdeen University, said children were under greater pressure than ever to pass exams and get a good job. But they often saw little to aspire to in the behaviour of adults.

She added: "A culture of drug taking has grown up, which means young people are unlikely to feel bad about it. There is no stigma attached - - it's become a socially-acceptable activity."

In a trial supported by cancer charities last year, children of 12 were given nicotine patches in an attempt to stem the rise in teenage smokers.

Professor Gordon McVie, director general of the Cancer Research Campaign, said at the time: "Giving up smoking is incredibly difficult at any age. At the moment, we seem to expect our kids to be able to quit cold turkey, without any nicotine replacement for support."

Research has shown that nearly a quarter of secondary school pupils drink the equivalent of five pints of lager every week. Despite the licensing laws, underage drinking has doubled in a decade and has continued to rise steadily in the past three years.

Today's report, from the Office for National Statistics, brings together previously-published figures to give a snapshot of various aspects of children's lives in Britain.