Analysis of questionnaire by Jana Vella

Biology Investigation Are Teenagers aware of the health

problems associated with alcohol?

1

Identifying the problem: As time is passing by, alcohol is becoming even more popular with youngsters, and the rate of teenagers who frequently make us of alcohol is increasing. Alcohol is becoming more available to everyone, and although by law only people over 17 are allowed purchase of alcohol, the reality is far from that. But is there really a high percentage of teens who drink alcohol? And why do most of them start drinking in the first place? Do the parents know of their drinking habits, and if yes, do they approve? And most importantly of all, are teenagers aware of the great damage that alcohol has on their bodies? Is there enough awareness on this subject? In this investigation we will try to give an answer to all of the questions asked above, and we will try to understand whether teenagers are aware of the health problems associated with alcohol. From personal predictions, I think that the percentage of teens who drink alcohol will be a quite elevated one, and I think they mostly do it to gain self confidence and be able to socialize better with others. I also predict that most of the parents won’t know about their children’s use of alcohol, and of course, knowledge about the effects of alcohol are predicted to be limited, as there is not enough emphasis given on this subject by authorities. In the following pages you will find the whole process which involved the carrying out of this investigation, including our questionnaires, their interpretation, and actual statistical results together with our own conclusion. Tackling the problem: As this problem is one which needs feedback from a large amount of students to be effective, we decided that the best way to tackle it was to create a questionnaire and give it to as much people as possible. The questions to be put in this questionnaire will be discussed in groups, and finally the best ones will be chosen and put on paper. It was agreed that the questions should be short and straight to the point (mostly requiring a yes/no reply), so as to get easily comparable data. After the questionnaires are prepared, each biology student will make five copies of the questionnaires, and give out four of them to people in her own class, while filling in the fifth one herself. The Form 4 biology students will also use the same set of questionnaires for their investigation, so that we will be able to compare results and at the same time get a higher amount of students participating in this investigation. We can also say that our investigation will include international feedback as thanks to an eTwinning Project, Dutch and Italian students will have the opportunity to answer to the questionnaires prepared by us. This way we may also be able to compare any differences or similitudes found between different countries. The results achieved in the questionnaire will be all put in tables so as to be able to view the data more clearly. The results in the table will be then converted to percentages and used to create bar graphs, which will show the results graphically and therefore will be easier to interpret. Finally a conclusion will be derived from the results achieved, and we will see whether our questionnaires were effective or not, and whether we have a clearer view on the problem we started with. Having given a clear plan of our investigation, we will now see some research about the effects of alcohol on the human body, which is in fact the main subject in this investigation.



2

Research: The Effects of Alcohol on the Human Body: Alcohol is an organic chemical composed of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. As it is easily soluble in water, it is assimilated quickly into the blood and distributed throughout the body. Due to this, even in small amounts, alcohol will have various effects on the drinker. In this passage, we will examine the different effects which alcohol has on the body and we will also see why alcohol in big amounts can be deadly to a person. Alcohol has both psychological and physical effects. We will first start by seeing the psychological problems caused by alcohol. When a person becomes an alcoholic, he might start noticing that he has sudden “behavior changes” such as mood swings, and impaired judgment. This could cause complications in relationships and may even affect a person’s social status, by creating financial or legal problems. Alcohol is therefore not only harmful to the body as we will later see, but it also affects directly the social life of a person. When looking at the physical effects of alcohol, the problems appear to be much more serious and of real danger to a person’s life. The first organ which alcohol damages is the heart. When a person drinks too much alcohol, he is unconsciously increasing his blood pressure and his heart rate, which causes more strain on the heart. This causes an abnormally fast heart rate which increases the chance of a stroke. It may also cause a condition called “Cardiomyopathy” where the heart muscles become enlarged and the heart becomes inflamed. Another organ which is severely damaged due to excess alcohol is the liver. The liver can only handle about one drink every hour, and when excess drinking is done, severe damage is caused. The healthy tissue of the liver can become replaced by scar tissue, which prevents the blood from

flowing through the liver. This disease is called “Cirrhosis” and it first starts manifesting itself with abdominal pain, nausea and redness of palms. Cirrhosis will cause the liver to malfunction, and in extreme cases the only solution is that of a liver transplant. Alcohol also has a serious impact on the brain, especially on the one of teenagers. As it reduces the blood flow, it blocks the proper formation of the brain, which is usually fully formed at the age of 25. During various research, it was also shown that alcohol slows down the brain, meaning that from 45-80% of alcoholics

do not do well in tests of problem solving and answers which need quick thinking. Recent studies have also shown that alcoholics seem to have a smaller and lighter brain than people who have never been alcoholics. Alcohol may also affect the central nervous system of a person too, causing him/her to experience seizures, hallucinations and dementia among other things.



3

Alcohol is also extremely dangerous as it may serve as a link to cancer. In fact it is connected to cancers in the mouth, the larynx and the esophagus. Alcohol may also bring about the inflammation of the pancreas and cause pancreatic cancer. It may also be the cause of inflammations of the inner linings of various organs, and may be the reason of formations like ulcers. Various nutritional disorders are also associated to alcohol. As it decreases the secretion of the pancreas, digestion becomes more difficult, and therefore the body might not get enough glucose. It also decreases calcium absorption, which in turn produce diseases such as osteoporosis, which is a condition where the bones are weakened and are broken easily. Alcohol also interferes with the production of antibodies in the immune system, making the body more prone to disease and infection. It may also cause other problems such as anemia as this is mostly a nutritional problem, and people who drink tend to eat less. Alcohol also affects the reproductive system in the human body. It lowers the levels of testosterone in men and it often makes them impotent. Females are also affected, and they usually quit menstruating or lose their fertility. The effects of alcohol on a pregnant woman are perhaps the worst of what has been mentioned thus far though, as it directly affects the unborn fetus. Babies born of an alcoholic mother may have developed with a lack of oxygen, causing malformations in both body and brain. Babies may be born with webbed feet, missing fingers or toes, and even mental retardation. In conclusion, we may say that alcoholism is indeed one of the most deadly vices ever. It is a disease which develops and grows progressively, and which will eventually lead to painful ailments and death itself. People addicted to alcohol should seek help, and gradually start to build themselves a new life without the constant threat of alcohol hanging over their heads. Sources: http://www.intox.com/t-Physiology.aspx http://www.alcoholrehabcenter.com/content/9589/the-medical-effects-of-alcohol-on-the-hu.php http://www.free-online-health.com/alcohol-effects.htm

http://www.intox.com/t-Physiology.aspx

http://www.alcoholrehabcenter.com/content/9589/the-medical-effects-of-alcohol-on-the-hu.php

http://www.free-online-health.com/alcohol-effects.htm



4

Performing the Actual Investigation: Method:

1) Students were put in groups and the design of the questionnaire was discussed. 2) A number of questions to be asked were suggested from each group and they were all

written down. 3) The best questions were selected and the questionnaire was designed. 4) Each student was assigned five questionnaires, one to fill in himself, and the other four to

give out to other students. 5) It was made sure that no student filled the questionnaire twice, although the students to be

asked were chosen randomly. 6) Some of the questionnaires were filled by foreign (Italian and Dutch) students online. 7) All the results were recorded and displayed as shown below. 8) The results were analysed and a final conclusion was derived.

Results:

Question asked Italian Dutch Maltese

Age: 13-15 13-15 13-15

Do you drink Alcohol?

Yes: 53% No: 47%

Yes: 58% No: 42%

Yes: 45% No: 55%

Those who drink Alcohol:


Do you drink in presence of your parents?

Yes: 87% No: 13%

Yes: 63% No: 37%

Yes: 72% No: 28%

What type of alcohol do you drink?

Beer and wine: 88% Spirits: 12%

Bacardi: 36% Beer: 32% Others

Vodka: 66% Wine: 36% Beer: 31% Whisky and tequila: 30%

Number of shots per evening

Average of 5 Average of 5 24% drink from 10-25 shots

Have you ever got drunk?

Yes: 6% No:94%

Yes: 41% No:59%

Yes: 44% No: 56%

Why do you drink alcohol?

For fun, because they like the taste and because it makes them feel happy.



5

Those who don’t drink Alcohol:


You don’t drink alcohol because your parents don’t allow you

Yes: 43% No:57%

Yes: 45% No:55%

Yes: 45% No: 55%

You don’t drink alcohol because it’s not healthy

Yes: 79% No:21%

Yes: 90% No: 10%

Yes: 78% No:22%

You don’t drink alcohol because it is too expensive

Yes: 43% No: 57%

Yes: 65% No: 35%

Yes: 43% No: 57%

You do not drink alcohol because your friends do not drink

Yes: 57% No: 43%

Yes: 25% No: 75%

Yes: 31% No: 69%

You do not drink alcohol because you don’t like it

Yes: 79% No: 21%

Yes: 55% No: 45%

Yes: 58% No: 42%

Other General Questions asked to those who drink Alcohol and those who don’t:


When you were young, did your

parents allow you to taste alcohol ?

Yes: 50% No:50%

Yes: 66% No: 34%

Yes: 58% No: 40%

Don’t know: 2%

Do you think alcohol should be sold to

teenagers under the age of 18?

Yes: 23% No: 77%

Yes: 55% No: 45%

Yes: 36% No: 64%

Do you think most teenagers know about the health

risks and problems associated with

Alcohol?

Yes: 43% No: 57%

Yes: 74% No: 26%

Yes: 54% No: 46%

Write down 1 bad effect of alcohol on

the human body

Liver Disease: 57%

Headache: 20% Don’t know: 17%

Brain Damage: 51% Coma: 19%

Liver Disease: 8%

Liver Disease: 28% Brain Damage: 15% Lung Disease: 11%

Others: 45%

Analysis of the results: In this part of the investigation, I will carefully analyse all the results obtained by tackling each question and comparing the results obtained from the three different countries. This will give us an idea about teenagers and alcohol in general, and teenagers and alcohol depending on nationality.



6

Question 1: Do you drink alcohol? The adjacent graph shows us that in Italy and the Netherlands, there is a higher percentage of students who drink alcohol than in Malta. This means that in Malta, although the percentage who answered yes is still relatively high, (45%) there are still less people than in the two other countries. When considering that the age of the people being questioned was a very young one, between 13 and 15, there is a very high number of students who drink alcohol illegally seeing as the legal age in the Netherlands and in Italy is 16 while in Malta it is 17. This set of results immediately shows us that teenagers indeed are in close contact with alcohol. For those who drink Alcohol: Question 2: Do you drink in presence of your parents? These results also produced an extremely interesting outcome. We see that the vast majority of the students who drink alcohol do so in the presence of their parents. This shows us that most of them therefore have parents who approve of their use of alcohol. This prospect though is also advantageous, as the presence of their parents during their use of alcohol at least prevents them from getting drunk, and also from exaggerating in its use. It also means that practices such as binge drinking are minimised and students have a safer approach to alcohol. When analyzing the graph it also shows us that the higher percentage of students who drink alcohol in presence of their parents are the Italians. This could be related to the question regarding experiencing being drunk, as when asked if they had ever got drunk, the Italians had the fewer percentage who answered yes, meaning they had control over the amount of alcohol intake.

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Italian Dutch Maltese

Nationality of Students

Percentage of students who drink Alcohol in presence

of their parents vs those who don't.

Yes

No

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Percentage of students who drink Alcohol vs students

who don't.

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Question 3: What type of Alcohol do you drink? In the adjacent graph we may see a great difference in the choice of alcohol of students. We see how the majority of the Italians drink wine and beer, while the majority of the Maltese drink Vodka. These two choices both have their negative aspects. Vodka, as opposed to beer, has a very high alcohol content, varying from 40% up to 80%. On the other hand the average beer contains about 4.4%. This means that Vodka must be taken more carefully and in not such big doses as beer, as it is capable of killing a person if taken in large doses and all at once. This is because alcohol is said to be a depressant, meaning that it slows down the activity of the brain. It can slow down the activity in parts of the brain responsible for controlling things like breathing and the gag reflex, and if you drink enough, it can slow or even stop these vital functions. Therefore we could say that in Malta, the most dangerous type of alcohol is being drunk. On the other hand beer is unhealthy to your diet, as it contains a lot of calories and can quickly turn into body fat. Finally we can see that the Dutch don’t drink any spirits, but make use of breezers such as Bacardi. Question 4: How many shots of alcohol do you usually take per evening? The adjacent graph shows other worrying results, especially for the situation of Maltese students. Only in Malta there are students who drink more than 10 shots, arriving up to 25. This means that in Malta there is a higher abuse of alcohol than abroad. A single shot of alcohol is calculated to have a volume of about 40-60ml. Obviously, the more shots taken, the more drunk a person will become, which leads us into the next question asked.

Percentage of students who drink alcohol sorted by

type of alcoholic beverage

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Percentage of No of shots drunk each night

5-10 shots

10-25 shots



8

Question 5: Have you ever got drunk? This reflects question many of the others asked above. We see how Malta has the highest percentage of people who had ever got drunk, amounting to 44% of the students who compiled the questionnaire. This result could already be predicted from the results of questions 3 and 4 which confirmed that the Maltese students consume the strongest type of alcohol (vodka), and that they take the largest amount of shots. The situation in the Netherlands is similar to that in Malta, although slightly lower in percentage (41%). The results also showed that the Italians were those with the lowest percentage of people who had got drunk, amounting only to 6%. This was also predictable from previous questions as the Italians had the highest amount of students who drunk in presence of their parents, meaning that the parents somehow had some kind of control over their children’s use of alcohol. Question 6: Why do you drink alcohol?

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Percentages of studetns who have got drunk and of

those who haven't.

Yes

No

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15

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25

30

Perc

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For Fun

I lik

e it

Makes m

e happy

Tastes G

ood

To have a

good ti

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I don't

know

To socia

lise in

a p

arty

Other

Reasons given

Reasons why students drink alcohol



9

The above graph answers maybe one of the most frequently asked questions to students about alcohol. Why is it that they drink alcohol. The main reason here seems to be because they find it something which promote fun and enjoyment. Sixteen percent of the students declare to drink alcohol because they like the way it tastes, while others like its effect on the brain, as it makes them feel light headed and relaxed. 4 % of the students felt that alcohol helped them socialize with others. The remaining 8% gave a variety of replies including “To be cool” and “To try it”. All this shows that many students could feel the need to try alcohol because of peer pressure, or because they feel that if everybody else is doing so, than that’s what should be done. This idea must be eliminated from students’ minds, in order to increase abuse of alcohol. For those who don’t drink alcohol: Question 7: Why don’t you drink alcohol?

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70

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90

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don't

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It's

not hea

lthy

It's

too e

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sive

My

frie

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drink

I don't

like

it

Reasons Given

Reasons why students drink alcohol

Italian

Dutch

Maltese



10

The graph above collects together the reasons for which the percentage of students who do not drink alcohol do not do it. In the questionnaire the students were given a number of multiple choice reasons and were asked to tick whether it applies to their situation or not. The results above show the amount who said yes to the particular reason supplied. It appears that the most popular answer was that ”It’s not healthy”, and this is a very positive feedback, as it means that some students indeed are aware of the risks associated with drinking alcohol. Another answer which was popular with the three countries was that they don’t like the taste of alcohol. Between the three countries though, we can note some evident differences in some questions. For example, the option “my friends don’t drink” was most popular with Italian students, maybe meaning that in Italy, peer pressure, even when it is a positive one, affects them more than in the Netherlands and In Malta. Another interesting aspect was that the expenses of alcohol were more of a problem in the Netherlands than in the other two countries as it was there that the highest percentage was got. The control of parents over their children could be said to be approximately the same, since the three countries have a very close percentage in the reason regarding parents. The percentage is still below 50% though, meaning that many of the students feel that they don’t drink due to a personal decision not because they don’t have their parent’s permission. Other General Questions: Question 8: When you were young, did your parents allow you to taste alcohol? This graph shows us that most of the students were exposed to alcohol when young. Only in Italy the percentage is divided exactly into 50% and 50%. In Malta and in the Netherlands, the percentage of those who answered “yes” is much higher than of those who answered “no”. This set of results shows us that alcohol is indeed a part of our culture, as even during family dinners or special occasions, parents allow even young children to drink alcohol, even if maybe in small amounts. The exposure of alcohol to children at an early age is vastly discussed and there are various hypothesis on what is best for the child. Theories in favour of the moderate exposure to alcohol discuss that this would make children accept alcohol as something to use in moderation, rather than something rebellious and secretive. Other theories also say that a child who knows that a moderate use of alcohol is accepted at home will feel more free to talk with his parents about his experiences and therefore they would have a more honest and open relationship. On the other hand others debate that alcohol at a young age could encourage children to start making regular use of it thinking it is a good thing, and therefore fall into alcoholism.

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80

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Percentage of students whose parents allowed them to

taste alcohol vs those who didn't.

Yes

No

Don't

Know



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Question 9: Do you think alcohol should be sold to teenagers under the age of 18? The results of this question are very curious as while, for example, 53% of the Italian students drink alcohol, 77% of them don’t agree that alcohol should be sold to people under 18 years of age. Does this mean that they are feeling that alcohol is indeed inappropriate for their age, and that one must be responsible enough in order to be able to handle his use of alcohol? Apart from this, there is the also the fact that physiologically speaking, people who are under the age of 18, could be seriously harmed by alcohol. A teenager’s development is marked by his puberty, and this is all controlled by our Endocrine system which releases particular hormones necessary for this change. Alcohol may disrupt this whole process, causing an incorrect development. Still, when looking at the table we may see that the percentage of people who answered yes is still relatively high, especially in the Netherlands, which shows the student’s mentality about the subject. Question 10: Do you think most teenagers know about the health risks and problems associated with Alcohol? This graph shows some different opinions between the three countries analysed. We will first start by Italy. In Italy, most of the students think that teenagers aren’t aware of the health risk associated with alcohol, and this could therefore lead to a higher abuse of it. On the other hand both the Maltese and the Dutch think that teenagers are aware of these problems. The answer to this question could maybe be influenced by the amount of talks or seminars received about this subject. The next question though, will give us a clearer view on the actual knowledge students have on this subject.

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Percentage of students who think alcohol should be sold

to students under the age of 18 vs those who don't.

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No

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Percentage of students who think that teenagers are

aware of the helath problems associated with alcohol vs

those who don't

Yes

No



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Question 11: Write down 1 bad effect of alcohol on the human body.

In this question the students were asked to name a health problem which in their opinion was caused by alcohol. The results achieved showed a variety of different opinions. In the above graph, only the most popular answers were put, but we will also discuss the ones which were mentioned in the section “Others”. The above graph clearly shows us that the most popular answers were liver disease, and brain damage, which as seen from my research at the beginning of the investigation, are indeed two factors which alcohol affects a lot. It is also interesting to note that the Italians had the highest percentage of students who couldn’t name an effect of alcohol, as opposed to the Dutch and Maltese. This could be related to the previous question, as when asked if they thought there was enough awareness about the effects of alcohol, the Italians were those who had the highest percentage in thinking there was the need for more information. Interestingly, many of the answers given were indeed correct. Some of the answers which were put in “Others” due to a relatively low percentage included “Addiction”, “Alcohol poisoning” and “Kidney”. It was interesting to see how some answers were very accurate, (example Slow Nervous Response) , while others were more general and didn’t really answer the question (example Bad health). All in all, we may say, that out of 294 students, only 19 didn’t give a very clear or a correct effect of alcohol, meaning that the majority of the teenagers are aware of the health risks associated with it.

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Lung Dis

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Oth

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Effect mentioned

Negative effects of alcohol on the body according to students

Italian

Dutch

Maltese



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Evaluation

After having analysed the results above, one can conclude a number of things. First of all, we might say that when looking back at the initial predictions done, some of my hypotheses were indeed correct, although the majority didn’t match with the actual results. We could say that it was correct to assume that there would be a higher percentage of people who drank alcohol than those who didn’t as in two of the three countries this was indeed what the results showed. In fact both in Italy and in The Netherlands, there were more people who drank alcohol than those who didn’t. It is true that in Malta there were more people who didn’t drink, still it was shocking to find out that in our country we had the largest percentage of people who drink strong spirits such as Vodka, and also the highest percentage of teens who had ever got drunk. It was also predicted that the students had a limited knowledge about the effects of alcohol on the human body, but this was proved to be incorrect, as the majority of the students gave a proper effect of alcohol, even though lacking in detail. In fact only 7% of the total amount of students replied that they didn’t know any effect of alcohol. This was a satisfactory result, as at least it shows that although many of the teenagers drink, while they do so they can keep in mind the effects of alcohol and be more careful. I still think though that there should be more awareness, as although many of the results were correct, some of them were too general, and the amount of students who drink alcohol is still high. Another prediction which was proved false was that that the parents didn’t know about their children’s use of alcohol. In fact, the majority (72% of those who drink alcohol) replied that they openly drank alcoholic beverages in front of their parents. This result could be interpreted as both negative and positive. Negative in the sense that parents are allowing their children to drink while they know they shouldn’t, and positive due to the fact that if they drink in front of their parents, at least they won’t let them get drunk. It was still surprising to see that parents approved of the illegal use of alcohol their children were doing, showing that maybe even if the teens are aware of the risks related to alcohol, their parent’s generation is lacking in information. Finally, the last prediction done was that the reasons for which teenagers drink alcohol were in majority to gain self confidence and to socialize better. This proved to be partly correct as these two reasons were indeed given as 4% of the students replied “To socialize”, but we can see that the most popular one was “For Fun” (28%) followed by “I like It” (16%). This shows us that many of the teens drink because there is the mentality that it is something that should be done to have fun, and also because they like its taste. It is worrying though to realize that although many of the teenagers are aware of the risks, they still dismiss them as something unimportant, and are only interested in the pleasure of the moment. I might say that in my opinion, peer pressure is playing a very important role in the use of alcohol. In fact from the questionnaire, a very curious observation could be made. Taking Malta as an example, when asked if they drank alcohol, 55% of them answered no. On the other hand when asked if they thought alcohol should be sold to teenagers, 64% answered no. This means that some of the teens who drank alcohol thought that it shouldn’t have been sold to them. Does this mean that alcohol got addictive, and that they regretted ever using it? Does it mean that they wished there was more control over who gets to buy alcohol? Because if nobody at their age bought it, there wouldn’t possibly be any peer pressure from their friends. On the whole I think that this investigation indeed portrayed how things are in reality, and although some of the results were indeed shocking, it is exactly how things are happening in everyday life.



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When looking back at how the investigation was carried out though, one can give a constructive criticism on the procedure followed. Personally, I think the idea of the questionnaire was a very good idea, as it was the only way to obtain feedback from the students. What could have been changed maybe was the amount of students asked, as more students, both foreign and Maltese would have given a clearer view on the subject. Another interesting idea which could have been carried out was maybe to have varied the location of the foreign students, and therefore give out questionnaires in other continents beside Europe to have a wider circle of opinions. Maybe questionnaires could have been asked to students from Asia, or from Africa, to see how different cultures affect teenager’s habits. Another idea could have been that in what regarded the Maltese students, questionnaires should have been given out to different schools, including boy’s schools. This would have enabled us to compare any differences between the answers given by boys and those given by girls. On the whole though, I think that this investigation was carried out quite well. The answers received were clearly sorted, and the information was portrayed graphically with the use of graphs to give a clearer view on what they indicated. The work was also divided equally between all the students participating in the investigation, and everyone worked well as a team. I think this investigation could be described as a very successful one were the results obtained were credible and straight to the point. If a similar investigation was assigned to me, I think I would work approximately in the same way, while trying to make some of the changes mentioned in my criticism above, therefore increasing variety in students asked (male and female, different parts of the world). This investigation has been of great interest to me, as while examining the biological aspect of the situation (therefore effects of alcohol on the body etc.), we also tackled the social aspect which circles around alcohol.

Documents

Analysis of questionnaire by Jana Vella