Prevention of alcoholism in adolescents

Introduction: Alcoholism is a disease that includes four symptoms: drinking need; control loss; physical dependence and tolerance. Alcohol causes 60 different diseases and is responsible for 3, 8% of all deaths worldwide (2, 5 million) annually. As of the research from EU countries it is shown that 5% of 11-year old children, 12% of 13-year and 29% of 15-year old ones consume alcohol once a week. The average age of children getting alcohol intoxicated is 13, 3 for males and 13, 9 for female children. 40 % of the adolescents (from secondary school) in Republic of Macedonia reported that they have never consumed alcohol so far. Most students consumed alcohol for a very first time during elementary school. The purpose of this paper is to present the adolescents’ alcohol habits toward as well as to present the manners of prevention of alcoholism. Material and methods: the paper includes survey of 182 examined students from the Faculty of Medical Sciences in Stip through a questionnaire. Results: As of the examined students at the Faculty of Medical Sciences 25% reported that they have never consumed alcohol and 40% reported that they have not consumed alcohol during the last 30 days. The most frequently consummated beverage among the students is beer. 22% of students have been alcohol intoxicated once or twice so far and 18% had been intoxicated more than twice. In conclusion: Macedonian students face many health problems related with behaviors, including consuming alcohol, therefore is necessary to pay more attention to this problem, better prevention and stronger support. Key words: alcoholism, alcohol intoxication, alcoholic disorders, prevention, habits of adolescent