Quantitative data on alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse among young people: a critical review

Abstract

Differences of aims, context, setting and methodology among existing Italian surveys on alcohol use and abuse is only one of the reasons making data comparison difficult and nearly impossible. Data often offer different and sometimes opposite images of the existing situation even on some main issues of alcohol use and abuse, such as lifetime use and excess or binge drinking among young people. A greater effort in overcoming these differences and getting to a greater harmonization of the existing surveillance systems should be undergone, in order to have a clearer picture of alcohol consumption among young people in our country.