Binge Drinking Catching on Among Young Girls as Well

Recent figures released by the NHS have revealed that the number of girls indulging in binge drinking has shot up and is expected to overtake the boys in the next couple of years. More than 8,000 boys and girls between 11-15 years of age were surveyed in the study and the researchers found that 53 percent of the boys had drank some amount of alcohol, with the average weekly consumption being 11.9 units, while the number of girls who had tasted alcohol was over 50 percent with an average weekly consumption of 11.3 units.

The report also said that more and more girls are shunning the “safety” of wine and lager and are instead drinking dangerously high levels of various spirits. This is the first time since such surveys were started by the NHS that girls came within 5 percent of their male counterparts and are expected to overtake them in the next couple of years.

Some of the major reasons for such a steep rise has been the cheap prices of alcohol along with glamorous images of celebrities shown drinking alcohol.

“Young girls are saturated by images, messages and role models, including the way adults drink, which creates a casual acceptance of drunkenness”, Don Shenker, the chief executive of Alcohol Concern said.




Source-Medindia