Teens develop drink habits before college years

Students starting university have already developed disturbing patterns of alcohol use, according to the head of student health at University College Cork.

Michael Byrne said that drinking was become “more and more prevalent” among incoming students, and the feedback from secondary school principals indicated that both Leaving Certificate and 5th year pupils were drinking.

Dr Byrne is spearheading a movement across the UCC campus, backed by the student’s union and the university itself, geared at raising awareness about the harm alcohol can do and encouraging students to take ownership of their own health. He said a “regular and consistent” part of his work is treating students for the unintended consequences of drinking too much.

The campaign includes giving students the option of alcohol-free residences with a marginally discounted rent. Dr Byrne said there was no take-up the first year of the initiative, but that six residences have already been booked for the upcoming academic year and he expects the number to hit around 20 come September. He said bookings had been taken from both Irish and overseas students.

“We sort of laughed at the idea first,” said Dr Byrne. “It was more of a concept, yet it grabbed the national headlines. However, there are other institutions looking at it now and I’m expecting the demand to grow.”

Dr Byrne, who is speaking on Wednesday at the Alcohol Forum Conference which takes place jointly with the National Healthcare Conference at the Dublin Convention Centre, said there was observational evidence that the median number of drinks consumed by students had decreased between 2010 and 2012. This information was gleaned from UCC’s e-Pub initiative, an online tool all students are encouraged to fill out as a means of getting them to reflect on their own drinking habits.

He said there was no doubt the economic downturn had influenced student alcohol consumption, but he was “hopeful” they were also influenced by the self-assessment tool, which provides personalised feedback and estimates the harm alcohol intake is causing.

Dr Byrne said more than 90% of the student population drank alcohol.

He said some had got involved in the recent social media phenomenon of ‘neknomination’, where participants film themselves downing a pint of alcohol in one go and then nominating someone else to do likewise. He said that, in this instance, he received advance warning about the game after receiving a call from a former UCC welfare officer now based in Australia. Dr Byrne said the tip-off gave the Students Union a window to warn students about the danger of the game and encourage them not to take part before it hit the national headlines.

“I think we were lucky, but I also think it was partly because the message went out peer-to-peer that this was not a safe thing to do,” he said.

Dr Byrne said he believes UCC is “setting the agenda” when it comes to tackling alcohol harm on campus, despite the risk of damage to reputation. He has been invited to speak at national and overseas events as a result of the UCC successes, including this week, where his presentation is entitled ‘UCC innovative approach to tackling alcohol’s harm on campus’.