Girls in Birmingham are more than twice as likely as boys to end up in hospital because of alcohol.
New figures from NHS Digital reveal that 92 girls in the city were admitted to hospital because of illnesses directly caused by alcohol between 2015/16 and 2017/18.
The conditions include things like alcoholic liver disease and alcohol-induced heart disease, though given their young age it is likely many admissions were because of alcohol poisoning.
Just 40 boys, on the other hand, were admitted to hospital over the same period because of alcohol.
Experts said they had no evidence to explain why girls have higher admission rates than boys, but they did warn that the number of children ending up in hospitals because of booze is putting immense strain on the NHS.
Clive Henn, Head of Alcohol at Public Health England: “These figures are of much concern, as most of these admissions will be for alcohol poisoning.
“And while these numbers are for hospital admissions the numbers coming into A&E are likely to be much higher.
“We have no evidence on why the number of girls is higher but it may be because of their smaller body size, girls may be more susceptible to poisoning than boys.
“Girls may also be seen to be more vulnerable than boys, especially if intoxicated and be taken to A&E by others for their safety.
“PHE’s 2016 alcohol evidence review found that having a Minimum Unit Price policy would impact on the affordability of the cheaper strong drinks consumed by young people and may help reduce binge drinking in this group since they typically have less disposable income.”
“Young people’s binge drinking is preventable.
"It is damaging on young people’s health and wellbeing, but also is an unnecessary burden on NHS resources.”
The news comes at a time when estimations show alcohol misuse costs the NHS around £3.5 billion per year, as well as £21 billion to society as a whole.
The number of children admitted to hospitals because of alcohol has actually been falling, however.
Some 49 in every 100,000 Birmingham kids were admitted to hospital between 2007/08 and 2009/10, when comparable records began.
That had more halved to 15 in every 100,000 children between 2015/16 and 2017/18.
“It’s still not entirely clear why"
Mark Leyshon, senior policy and research officer for Alcohol Change UK, said: “Whilst there are encouraging signs that alcohol consumption and drunkenness amongst under 18s is falling, the fact that some young people are still needing hospital treatment as a result of their drinking means that we can’t be complacent.
“Alcohol can cause health risks in all age groups, but it can be particularly harmful to young people.
“The younger a person is when they are first drunk, the more likely they are to develop alcohol problems later in life.
“It’s still not entirely clear why, in recent years, we are seeing a trend that more girls than boys are being admitted to A&E because of alcohol.
“One explanation may be that girls are more likely than boys to struggle with mental health as they reach young adulthood, though the reasons for this in turn aren’t clear.
“Girls and boys alike need much more support to help them maintain good mental health and healthier drinking behaviours.”
Overall in England there were 6,828 girls admitted to hospitals because of alcohol between 2015/16 and 2017/18 - much higher than the 4,782 boys.
That is despite the fact that nationally men are twice as likely as women to die due to alcohol, with those aged 55-59 being at particular risk.
