Kent and Hampshire exposed as having highest child hospital admission rates as experts warn of “frightening” rise in young addicts checking into rehab.
PUBLIC Health England revealed in their 2019 Child Health report that over 4,000 kids living in the South East were admitted to hospitals for drink and drug abuse – the second highest regional rate reported.
The data shows that 1,874 children were admitted to hospitals across the South East because of alcohol abuse PLUS an additional 2,536 being admitted for substance misuse.
The children admitted to hospital because of alcohol abuse were all under the age of 18, whilst those admitted for substance misuse were aged 15-24.
The report has pooled together hospital admissions data from the last three years.
The worst offending area across the South East for drug misuse hospital admissions was Kent; with 463 young people being admitted in the last three years, followed by Hampshire with 404.
As for alcohol, the worst areas were again Kent and Hampshire with 293 and 260 respectively, followed by Surrey with 254 child hospital admissions in 3 years.
The news comes at a time when leading private addiction treatment firm UKAT has announced a staggering 185% rise in the number of young addicts checking into rehab in the last 3 years.
In 2015, UKAT treated 93 patients aged 21 or under for substance based addictions, jumping dramatically to 266 in 2018.
Eytan Alexander, CEO of UKAT, believes that more pressure should be put on parents across the South East to have open and honest conversations with their children.
He said: “Prevention should be the priority in tackling the rise of drink and drug misuse amongst children in order to avoid the beast which is addiction developing in later life. It is imperative that parents living across the South East address the topic of drugs and alcohol early on with their children. Be informed and be clear. Discuss the harmful effects of alcohol and drugs on the body as well as the legal consequences associated with them. Do this for them whilst they’re young and we could start to see these numbers lowering.”
The report also reveals a link between alcohol-attributable hospital admissions in both males and females with teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections as well as a link between young people who use recreational drugs with suicide, depression and disruptive behaviour disorders.
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