Maori secondary school students' alcohol use 
23 December 2004 

Pacific Island and Mäori secondary school students show more concern over their drinking than their European counterparts according to a new report.

The report shows nearly 30 percent of Pacific students have tried to cut down or quit drinking compared to 17 percent of Mäori, 14 percent of Asian, and 14 percent of New Zealand European students.

The figures are in a just released report commissioned and funded by the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) that draws on research collected in the Youth2000 survey - a nationally representative youth health survey released in 2003.  The Adolescent Health Research Group (AHRG) at Auckland University collated the alcohol information from the survey to provide a snapshot of secondary school students' drinking behaviours.

The report says:

• More Mäori and New Zealand European students have drunk alcohol than students of other ethnicities.
• Nearly 90 percent of New Zealand European students and 85 percent of Mäori students who have ever drunk alcohol continue to drink. For Pacific and Asian students the figures are 72 percent and 68 percent respectively. 
• About half of Mäori and New Zealand European students had their first drink of alcohol prior to age 13 compared to about a third of Pacific and Asian students. 
• Some 67.9 percent of Mäori secondary students surveyed had an episode of binge drinking (more than five drinks on one occasion) in the four weeks before surveyed. This compared with 60 percent of Pacific Island students, 55 percent of New Zealand European and 35.6 percent of Asian students. 
• More than half of Mäori, Asian and New Zealand European students drink alcohol at home while Pacific students more commonly drink alcohol outside the home (i.e. at parties, at an outdoor place, in a bar or nightclub.) 
• More than 40 percent of Mäori and Pacific students usually drink with people other than friends or family while less than a quarter of New Zealand European and Asian students reported doing so. 
• While 40 percent or more of Mäori, Pacific and Asian students have some level of concern for their drinking, only 27 percent of New Zealand European students reported any personal concern about their drinking. 
• Nearly 30 percent of Pacific students have tried to cut down or quit drinking compared to 17 percent of Mäori, 14 percent of Asian, and 14 percent of New Zealand European students. 
• Asian students were least likely of all ethnic groups to be passengers in a car driven by someone potentially drunk or to have driven drunk.

Commenting on the report, ALAC Chief Executive Officer Dr Mike MacAvoy says the binge drinking figures were worrying. They also reflected what had been found in earlier research among Mäori adults that suggested Mäori adults drank less often than their European counterparts but drank more on a single occasion.

"However, what is encouraging is that many of the students have recognised they may have a problem and are attempting to do something about it. This suggests a need for support services to be targeted to that area.

"ALAC is currently heading a comprehensive multi-faceted programme one component of which is marketing culture change aimed at reducing excessive per occasion consumption of alcohol," he says.

"This is not just a problem for Mäori; our research shows nearly half the New Zealand population believe it is okay to get drunk as long as it is not everyday and like the recently released British study there is a determination to set out to get drunk. Indeed, some 300,000 New Zealand citizens set out to get drunk on their last occasion of drinking.

"To develop an intolerance of drunkenness, an intolerance of continuing to provide alcohol to intoxicated persons, an intolerance of supplying alcohol to our young people that places them at risk of harm are just some of the attitudinal and behavioural changes New Zealanders need to make," he says.

AHRG researcher Peter Watson says the report shows the important role adults have in shaping youth attitudes and behaviours around alcohol.

"Families should be aware that they are the place where many young people acquire alcohol and they should monitor its availability and use," says Dr Watson.

 "Government, communities and families should restrict access to alcohol for under-age youth," he says. "The minimum purchase age is an important influence on younger students' decisions not to drink alcohol. As very few students are regularly asked for identification when buying alcohol, enforcement of existing legislation is warranted."

Dr Watson says parents, caregivers, and people providing services to young people should ask and talk about students' alcohol-related worries and behaviours.


The full report is available on www.youth2000.ac.nz

For further information contact Dr Mike MacAvoy on 04 917 0060 or Peter Watson on 021 863426.