Background: Episodic excessive alcohol consumption ("binge drinking") among children and adolescents has become a serious public health problem in Germany and is associated with a variety of risks.
Methods: Selective literature search of the Ovid Medline database from 1998 to 2008.
Results: Episodic excessive alcohol consumption is associated not only with somatic complications, but also with traffic accidents and other types of accident, violent behavior, and suicide. The more frequently a child or adolescent drinks to excess, and the younger he or she is, the greater is the risk of developing an alcohol-related disorder (alcohol misuse or dependence syndrome). In the USA, brief motivational interventions have been shown to have a small to medium-sized beneficial effect in reducing further binge drinking and its complications.
Conclusions: The intervention HaLT ("Stop," also an acronym for Hart am Limit--"near the limit") is performed in a number of regions in Germany. Further types of brief motivating intervention should be developed and evaluated to prevent the development of alcohol-related disorders, where indicated, in children and adolescents that engage in binge drinking.
Keywords: adolescent health; alcohol consumption; alcohol dependence; child health; short-term treatment.