Alcohol outlets near schools in a midsize Romanian city. Prevalence and characteristics

Abstract

Objective: alcohol availability is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent alcohol use, and subsequent harm. Alcohol outlets near schools are an important indicator of three types of availability related to adolescent alcohol use; physical (number), economic (price), and legal (compliance with age limits). Method: two teams with trained students (16 and 17 years old) visited all 37 schools in a 200,000 inhabitant Romanian city (Pitesti). On the spot all alcohol outlets were visited and data was collected on outlet characteristics and visitors. Also, by conducting mystery shopping purchase attempts by the researchers, compliance on the age limits for alcohol sales was tested. Results: a total of 40 outlets were found within a 250 meter distance around 23 schools. Alcohol turns out to be cheap, and commercial alcohol brand signs are dominantly visible. With respect to compliance with the 18-year-old Romanian age limit for alcohol sales, only eight (20%) outlets refused to sell alcohol to under aged decoy customers. Conclusion: adolescent alcohol availability is high on the physical, economic and legal aspect. Pitesti is the first city in Romania where an international alcohol prevention project has started to reduce alcohol related consequences. This project involves all relevant stakeholders, and the first new legislation on this subject had been implemented.Key words: alcohol, availability, adolescents, outlets, school area, mystery shopping, Romania he Eurobarometer [1] indicates that Europe is the region with the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world. This high level of alcohol consumption causes also a high level of harm. Harmful drinking is the third largest risk factor of ill health.For young people the consequences of alcohol use are relatively high. Teenagers don't think about long term consequences; generally spoken they want to distance from their parents and turn to their peers. Also the young body and brain is developing which makes it extra sensitive to the toxic effects of alcohol [2][3]. A study performed by the Romanian Anti Drug Agency [4] shows that no less than 81.8% of respondents aged between 15 and 24 have consumed alcohol at least once in life.Anderson and Baumberg [5] indicate that over 10% of youth female mortality and around 25% of youth male mortality in Europe is due to alcohol. Also the risk on brain damage for youth is considerable; the young brain is very vulnerable because it is still developing. Alcohol consumption at young age can lead to permanent damage to brain functions and structure. This can lead to learning, concentration and memory problems [6][7][8]. Binge drinking (drinking high quantities of alcohol in a short amount of time) increases the risk on brain damage [8]. Romania rates second highest country in Europe; 39 % of the people consume over 5 glasses of alcohol at one occasion once or several times a week (binge drinking). This drinking pattern is occurring most frequent among adolescents (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) T

Risk Factors Associated with Alcohol Consumption Among Romanian University Students- Preliminary Research

“…A study performed by the Romanian Anti-Drug Agency showed that no less than 81.8% of respondents aged between 15 and 24 have consumed alcohol at least once in life (Van Hoof et al, 2010).…”

Adolescents’ experiences and perceived (dis)advantages of the three main outlet types for alcohol purchases

“…Determinants of physical availability influencing alcohol purchase include opening hours (Stanley et al, 2010), outlet density (Young et al, 2013), outlet proximity (Halonen et al, 2013;Young et al, 2013), delivery policies (including delivery methods and delivery restrictions, like shipping restrictions to local or national areas; Chen et al, 2014;Pozzi, 2013), and product variety (Liu and Forsythe, 2010). Second, economic availability depends on the product price (Van Hoof et al, 2010c) including additional costs like taxes, entrance or wardrobe deposit fees, and delivery costs (Van Hoof et al, 2010c), and minimum purchase quantity in case of online purchases (Fix et al, 2006). Third, legal availability is determined by age limits for sales, possession or consumption (Jackson et al, 2014), legal restrictions to adolescents and/or vendors (Gosselt et al, 2011(Gosselt et al, , 2012, age verification activities (Van Hoof et al, 2010b;Wolff et al, 2011), and vendor compliance (Van Hoof et al, 2011).…”

“…Availability as a concept can be differentiated into four kinds (Van Hoof et al, 2010c): physical availability, economic availability, legal availability, and social availability. Determinants of physical availability influencing alcohol purchase include opening hours (Stanley et al, 2010), outlet density (Young et al, 2013), outlet proximity (Halonen et al, 2013; Young et al, 2013), delivery policies (including delivery methods and delivery restrictions, like shipping restrictions to local or national areas; Chen et al, 2014; Pozzi, 2013), and product variety (Liu and Forsythe, 2010).…”