Alcohol use among young people − the national situation
Young people’s health and well-being is an important issue, and alcohol use among young people has been widely discussed in terms of its associated physical, psychological and social harms. Such consequences may be seen immediately, through increased risk of violence, accidents and injuries, and unprotected sex, or they may manifest later in adolescence or adulthood. A number of national and international policies and laws aim to reduce alcohol use and risky alcohol consumption patterns among youth, including the National Alcohol Policy. So how do we know about the extent and nature of alcohol use among young people, and what do we know? The most comprehensive data on alcohol consumption among young people in Malta and across Europe comes from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). ESPAD is an international study coordinated at national level by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS). The first ESPAD study was conducted in 1995 and has been repeated every four years since then. In 2019, anonymous data was collected using a questionnaire from over 3,000 15- to 16-year-old students attending state, church and independent schools in Malta...