Abstract:
Excessive alcohol consumption has been on the rise globally and Namibia is no exception, thus making the rise thereof and its adverse effects a public health concern. Various studies indicated that excessive alcohol consumption leads to a great deal of health and social consequences. The main purpose of the study was to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of young adults on alcohol use and its effects on their health. The study applied a quantitative approach, using a cross-sectional, descriptive and exploratory design to obtain data from 383 participants aged 18 – 30 years. A cluster random sampling method was
employed, data was compiled and analysed using SPSS version 25.
Questionnaires were used to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to alcohol consumption. Descriptive quantitative statistics were used to present the results. The mean age of the respondents was 22.9, ±40.05SD. 134 of the respondents (male and female) were from the age of 21 -23 whereby females made up most of the respondents in the study from all age groups with 58.5%.
This study found that most of the respondents had a good knowledge with more than 67.6% describing the awareness and dangers of alcohol (e.g. stomach ulcers, liver damage and increased risk of motor vehicle accidents). Furthermore, 58.7% of respondents agreed that alcohol is a drug, and 87.7% agreed that 10% of road accidents are alcohol-related. Respondents showed inadequate knowledge regarding the term “standard drink” and the recommended number of standard drinks. Overall, respondents had a good attitude and safe practices towards alcohol consumption and its effects on their health. 71.3% of the respondents indicated that their alcohol consumption was enquired during visits to a health facility. This study, therefore, recommends that there is a need to increase knowledge, improve attitudes and maintain practices towards alcohol consumption and its adverse effects among the youth by creating new platforms to increase awareness and intensify alcohol education. This can be achieved by establishing a multisectoral approach between the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS), Ministry of Education (MoE) and other relevant stakeholders in Namibia.
