The binge battle: Fewer young Kiwis drinking hazardously but binge culture still strong – Editorial

New Zealanders are drinking less alcohol, but binge drinking is still problematic. Photo / 123RF

Kiwis’ drinking habits are changing for the good, according to the Ministry of Health’s latest annual survey. New Zealanders are drinking less alcohol, a trend that has continued for the past few years, while zero or low-alcohol options have increased.

At the same time, new Ministry of Justice data show a large drop in the number of victims of violent offending, closely mirrored by a major drop in violent crime where alcohol was involved, in recent years.

This is good news and helps the Government’s target to reduce violent crime.

But much more needs to be done to educate young New Zealanders about the dangers of excessive drinking and to change the country’s infamous “drinking culture”.

Alcohol-related harm is estimated to cost $9.1 billion a year in New Zealand, according to a 2023 study by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research. Binge drinking by the young will be in the mix of alcohol-related injuries and accidents.

The Ministry of Health’s survey shows the biggest drop in hazardous drinking has been for those aged between 18 and 24. However, this is also the group where the rate is still the highest (29% of drinkers in 2023-24, down from 42% in 2018-19).

The 2022/23 health survey shows that 6.3% of 15- to 17-year-olds self-report as hazardous drinkers, a decrease from 11.8% in 2019/20 and 10.2% in 2020/21.

That’s trending in the right direction; however, New Zealand’s binge drinking remains high compared with other countries. Young people drink less frequently than adults but drink more when they do drink.

Lizzie Barratt, health promotion adviser for Alcohol Healthwatch, said New Zealand still had a “a massive binge drinking culture in Aotearoa, especially in our universities”.

That culture permeates many groups in which young people gather to socialise – sports clubs, universities and the streets that surround them, music festivals, mass parties and nightclubs.

Excessive alcohol adds to risk-taking behaviour – such as climbing on roofs to party, or speeding round town in a car. It’s all good fun until it’s not.

Parents are left to wait and hope they won’t receive a late-night phone call to say their child has been in a drink-driving accident, been assaulted in a drunken fight, or sexually assaulted, or is in hospital being treated for alcohol poisoning after drinking with mates.

The relative risk of a fatal crash by blood alcohol level is significantly higher in the 15- to 19-year age group, according to Ministry of Transport data.

Already busy accident-and-emergency departments become even more stretched on party nights, dealing with alcohol-related cases, particularly in university towns.

As New Zealand’s drinking culture stands, peer pressure means young people, in many cases, binge drink to feel like they belong, that they are part of the in crowd, or to meet approval from older drinkers.

That needs to change. Older New Zealanders – parents and caregivers, sports club members, more senior university students – all have a part to play in changing the culture.