Fumo e alcol tra gli adolescenti nelle Regioni italiane: i dati della sorveglianza Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2018

Introduction During adolescence, it is common to start experimenting with risky behaviours, such as using alcohol and cigarettes. Methods and materials We analysed these behaviours using data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2018 surveillance. Data were collected from every Italian region, with a national representative sample of 58,976 adolescents aged 11, 13, and 15 years. As an indicator of cigarette consumption, we considered the question of the surveillance that asked how many days the adolescent had smoked in the last month. As an indicator of alcohol consumption, we used the question that asked the adolescent if he had consumed more than 5 drinks on one occasion in the last year. Results Both indicators increased with age. For every age, on average girls smoked on more days, while a higher percentage of boys had experienced binge drinking. At 13 years, 8.0% of boys and 8.4% of girls smoked in the last month. For 15 years olds adolescent, frequencies were more than double, with 24.8% of boys and 31.9% of girls that smoked in the same period. 11.4% of eleven-year-old boys and 4.8% of same-age girls admitted drinking five or more drinks in a row during the last year. At thirteen, 19.1% of boys and 13.7% of girls were binge drinkers. At fifteen, more than four boys and three girls out of ten were binge drinkers. There were differences in both responses among the regions of Italy. Discussion and conclusions From the analyses, it emerges that prevention before adolescence is important, because the onset of these behaviours starts in this stage of life. As reported in other studies, smoking cigarettes appears more common among fifteen-year-old girls, and heavy drinking among boys at every age. The analyses reported that the behaviours are present in all the Italian regions with some regional differences