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UK's teenage girls biggest binge drinkers in Europe: Report

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Jan 24 2013 | 2:11 AM IST

The UK Department of Health report, which is based on the European School Survey project of 2007, showed that 55 per cent of girls in Britain consumed five or more drinks on at least once a month.

The figure makes them the most likely to binge drink in Europe, followed by those in Portugal, Malta and Estonia.

The report also showed that binge drinking among British boys is also high at 52 per cent, but this is surpassed by 62 per cent in Malta, and 60 per cent in Latvia.

On average, British teenagers are the fifth most likely in Europe to admit binge drinking, the Daily Mail reported.

The Department of Health has now submitted the report to a Commons health select committee inquiry, warning that young adults who drink to excess before going out for the night are more likely to be involved in crime.

The report said: "The UK is consistently in the top five European countries for binge drinking and drunkenness among school children."

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"In a recent study, 66 per cent of 17- to 30-year-olds arrested in a city in England claimed to have pre-loaded before a night out, with pre-loaders two-and-a-half times more likely to be involved in violence than other drinkers. This has contributed to a fifth of all violent incidents in or around a pub or club," it added.

It also noted that about nine per cent of men and four per cent of women are drinking at harmful levels, or more than 50 units and 35 units a week.

"More than 90 per cent who drink at these levels will go on to develop excessive fat accumulation in their livers -- this is reversible if drinking is reduced but, if not, 15 to 30 per cent of those will develop more serious inflammation, and up to 10 per cent could develop cirrhosis," the report said, adding that liver disease alone costs the National Health System about a billion pounds every year.

Earlier this year, a World Health Organisation study has found female teenagers believed they have the right to drink as much as boys, with youngsters in England, Scotland and Wales among the heaviest drinkers.

Almost half of 15-year-old girls in the three countries have been drunk at least twice, it had found.

  

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First Published: Jul 02 2012 | 4:06 PM IST

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