OBJECTIVES: To identify habits of alcohol consumption among school-children and analyse their ways of thinking about the question. DESIGN: A descriptive study of observation, using a crossover method, and carried out by means of a self-administered questionnaire. SETTING: Those EGB schools within the Molina de Segura (Murcia) Health Area which accepted the questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: The 534 7th-year EGB students who attended class on the day of the field work. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: We used the questionnaire elaborated by Torres Hernández to collect the data and that by Eysenck and Eysenck (EPI type A) to evaluate the replies' reliability. We analysed 478 of the 534 questionnaires which exceeded level 4 of the sincerity scale. We found that 83.3% had tried alcohol on some occasion, 2.5% drank it daily, 14.2% had consumed alcohol before the age of 10 and 19.5% had got drunk on some occasion. Cider and beer were the drinks preferred. We found no significant differences for gender. 91.6% thought that alcohol damaged health, 83.7% that it affected studies and 94.1% sport. 10.7% thought that it did not create dependence. CONCLUSIONS: We underline the high percentage of alcohol consumption in young people and their early starting-age, as well as the change in the patterns of traditional female behaviour in relation to alcohol consumption. We emphasise the need for Health Education among schoolchildren.
OBJECTIVES: To identify habits of alcohol consumption among school-children and analyse their ways of thinking about the question. DESIGN: A descriptive study of observation, using a crossover method, and carried out by means of a self-administered questionnaire. SETTING: Those EGB schools within the Molina de Segura (Murcia) Health Area which accepted the questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: The 534 7th-year EGB students who attended class on the day of the field work. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: We used the questionnaire elaborated by Torres Hernández to collect the data and that by Eysenck and Eysenck (EPI type A) to evaluate the replies' reliability. We analysed 478 of the 534 questionnaires which exceeded level 4 of the sincerity scale. We found that 83.3% had tried alcohol on some occasion, 2.5% drank it daily, 14.2% had consumed alcohol before the age of 10 and 19.5% had got drunk on some occasion. Cider and beer were the drinks preferred. We found no significant differences for gender. 91.6% thought that alcohol damaged health, 83.7% that it affected studies and 94.1% sport. 10.7% thought that it did not create dependence. CONCLUSIONS: We underline the high percentage of alcohol consumption in young people and their early starting-age, as well as the change in the patterns of traditional female behaviour in relation to alcohol consumption. We emphasise the need for Health Education among schoolchildren.