HC Deb 07 May 2002 vol 385 cc123-4W
Miss Begg

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statistics the Government collect on alcohol consumption(a) by gender, (b) by age and (c) by region. [51827]

Ms Blears

Data on alcohol consumption are collected in a number of surveys. For adults aged 16 and over, these include:

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) General Household Survey, published as "Living in Britain—Results from the 2000 General Household Survey". This includes analyses by gender, age group and region and is available on the internet at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/lib.index.html.

The Department of Health: Health Survey for England; published as (for example) "Health Survey for England 1998—Cardiovascular Disease". This includes analyses by age group and gender and data from 1993 to 2000 is available on the internet at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/stats/trendsl.htm.

For young people aged 11 to 15, the Department of Health commissions a school survey from the National Centre for Social Research and the National Foundation for Educational Research. Data for 2000 was published as "Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2000" and is available on the internet at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/stats/trendsl.htm.

Preliminary findings from the 2001 survey were published as a Department of Health Statistical Press Notice: "Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2001: Preliminary Results" in March 2002. The press notice is available on the internet at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/public/press15march02.htm. Both surveys include analysis by gender and age group.