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Shocking toll of under-10s ‘hitting the bottle’

The number of children being treated for alcohol-related injuries or illnesses in Tayside has tripled over the past three years, raising questions about the failure to deal with the problem of under-age drinking and access to alcohol.
The number of children being treated for alcohol-related injuries or illnesses in Tayside has tripled over the past three years, raising questions about the failure to deal with the problem of under-age drinking and access to alcohol.

The number of children under the age of 10 in Tayside who have been treated for alcohol-related injuries or illness has almost trebled in the past three years.

A total of 61 children the second-highest in Scotland after Ayrshire and Arran have been affected over the period 2011-13. Just three years ago 11 under-10s were treated by NHS Tayside, with another 21 in 2012, but by last year that figure had risen to 29.

In Fife the figure was 10 however, that reflected five treated in both 2011 and 2013, with none in 2012.

The numbers have also soared in the 10-18 age group, with Tayside again second only to Ayrshire and Arran, with a total of 1,385 receiving hospital treatment.

However, the figures in that category have fallen from 520 in 2011, then 474 in 2012 to 391 last year.

Nationally, 225 under-10s have been treated for alcohol-related conditions in the last three years.

Ayrshire and Arran was the worst-affected health board area, with 86 treated in 2011-13, followed by Tayside then Forth Valley with 33.

The numbers soared in the 10-18 age group, with 4,884 young people treated for an alcohol-related condition over the same period. Ayrshire and Arran again had the highest incidence, with 1,483 cases recorded, followed by Tayside and Forth Valley with 612.

The figures were obtained by the Lib Dems through freedom of information legislation.

Jim Hume MSP, the party’s health spokesman, said young people were “paying the price” for a failure to tackle problem drinking.

He said: “People will be shocked to learn that more than 200 children under 10 years of age were treated for alcohol-related injury or illness. These children should be out kicking a ball about, not hitting the bottle.

“It should set alarm bells ringing across society that so many young people who should not be drinking are being treated by our NHS staff for alcohol-related conditions.”