Alcohol abuse is widespread among all the peoples and cultures nowadays. In modern society alcoholism is not viewed as a disease any longer; it is more considered a behavioural disorder caused by dynamic and stressful life relations where alcohol abuse turns to be a lifestyle. Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among the young, which is not illegal, but it is illegal and forbidden for those who are under age. The reasons for alcohol consumption among the young are numerous: boredom, desire to be different or to be accepted by peers, fear of not belonging to a group or hope that it brings feeling of relaxation and joy, bad family relations with lack of communication, alienation and parents' attitude towards drinking alcohol and so on. All these have a great impact on young people's behaviour. Alcohol can cause permanent serious consequences if it is abused at an early age. A lot of research on alcohol abuse among the young has been done in the world as well as in our country. According to the alarming research statistics more and more youngsters start abusing alcohol sooner than ever before. The purpose of this paper is to present alcohol drinking among the young as a community health problem, to point at consequences of alcohol abuse and its harmful impact on human organism and to emphasize the role of a nurse in carrying out preventive programmes in kindergardens, primary and secondary schools.

U današnje vrijeme konzumacija alkohola je rasprostranjena među svim narodima i kulturama. O alkoholizmu se u suvremenom društvu sve manje govori kao o bolesti, a sve više ga se promatra kao poremećaj ponašanja nastao dinamičnim životnim odnosima u kojima konzumiranje alkohola postaje stil života. Najčešće korištena droga među mladima je upravo alkohol koji ne spada u ilegalne droge, ali za mlađe od 18 godina jest ilegalna droga. Mnogo je razloga zbog čega mladi konzumiraju alkohol, a najčešće zbog želje da se dokažu , da budu drugačiji od ostalih , iz dosade, zbog straha od nepripadanja skupini ili vjerovanja da će se poslije konzumiranja alkohola osjećati veselo i opušteno. Nekomuniciranje u obitelji, otuđenost te stav roditelja o pijenju alkohola ima veliki utjecaj na ponašanje mladih. Ukoliko se alkohol konzumira u ranoj dobi može izazvati trajne posljedice na organizam. Kod nas i u svijetu, provedena su mnogobrojna istraživanja konzumacije alkohola među mladom populacijom. Statistički podaci istraživanja u Republici Hrvatskoj su vrlo alarmantni i ukazuju na sve raniju konzumaciju alkohola među mladima. Cilj ovog rada je prikazati pijenje alkohola kod mladih kao javnozdravstveni problem, ukazati na posljedice njegove konzumacije, štetne učinke na zdravlje i naglasiti ulogu medicinske sestre u provođenju preventivnih programa u vrtićima, osnovnim i srednjim školama.