During lockdowns, far fewer children with alcohol poisoning

The lockdowns during the corona crisis have resulted in significantly fewer children being hospitalized with alcohol poisoning. During the first lockdown, from March 16 to May 31, 2020, the decline was 70 percent.

This is apparent from research figures by pediatrician Nico van der Lely and PhD student Louise Pigeaud, published in The Journal of Adolescent Health. The figures come from twelve alcohol clinics across the country.

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Van der Lely says that the decrease can probably be explained by the fact that young people had less access to alcohol due to the closure of catering and sports clubs. “They were kind of cooped up,” said Van der Lely in the NOS Radio 1 News. “In addition, their parents often sat next to them at the kitchen table, because they were working at home. So there was no peer pressure and supervision was increased.”

Van der Lely saw the same trend at the end of last year, during a partial lockdown. After the lockdowns, the number of alcohol poisonings among minors increased again. “Especially after that first lockdown, there was a huge rebound effect and we see that again. I saw four children at my outpatient clinic yesterday and three more today, as if it were 2018 again.”

‘A quarter usually falls in hospital’

The pediatrician says that the numbers should be a warning. “If everything goes well with the corona figures, social life will largely resume after the summer holidays. Especially now that higher education and sports associations are fully open again in addition to the catering industry, young people can live with the idea of ​​catching up with the quiet lockdown months and party extra hard with a lot of alcohol.”

In the meantime, he tries to inform the children, their parents and policy makers as well as possible. “For example, through the data from our research. And in the hospital, when they have just woken up after a coma, we take them to the computer and use visualizations to show what the consequences could be. Then the penny usually drops.”

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