British women have come close to the top of a new European ‘binge-drinking league’, sparking concern that warnings about alcohol health harms are being ignored.
Current NHS guidelines recommend no more than six drinks per week — with this amount spread out over seven days.
Yet a quarter of women in the UK admitted to regularly consuming this much or more in a single session — defined as ‘heavy episodic drinking’ in a new report.
Only Danish women were more likely to hit the bottle, the research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed.
While 45 per cent of British men admitted to regular booze sessions, they came fifth in the league behind Romania, Denmark, Finland and Luxembourg.
This meant the UK ranked third, overall, in the boozer list.
Even more worryingly, among uner-15s, British teenage girls were found to be out-drinking almost all of their European peers.
A shocking one in ten (12 per cent) of 13-year-old girls in the UK confessed to having been drunk ‘at least twice’ — despite the legal drinking age being 18.
Only Bulgarian young women fared worse, with 14 per cent claiming to have to have gone on a binge.
By comparison, nine per cent of British boys the same age said the same.
Meanwhile, three per cent of 11-year-old boys and two per cent of girls the same age admitted to boozing.
Adolescents who drink heavily are less likely to do well in school, and more likely to develop alcohol dependence later in life, studies have shown.
Commenting on the findings, experts warned that drinks firms were ‘heavily targeting’ young women, in particular, with adverts that ‘present alcohol consumption as a feminine practice’.
The study looked at adult drinking habits in 38 countries, and found adults in Turkey drank the least, with just one per cent of women and five per cent of men regularly bingeing.
Speaking to The Times, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, said drinking among girls was ‘a real cause for concern’.
In 2022 — the most recent year figures are available for — the rate of premature deaths from alcohol-related liver disease in women was 6.5 per 100,000 people under 75 — higher than the rate for men.
British women have come close to the top of a new European ‘drinking league’, sparking concern that warnings about the health harms of alcohol are being ignored
That year 3,929 women died prematurely from liver disease, increase over the last 20 years.
Prof Gilmour added: ‘Although it is unclear what exactly is driving this trend, shifting cultural norms and shrewdly targeted marketing campaigns are likely to play a role.’
Dr Katherine Severi, chief executive of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said any level of underage drinking was harmful.
Speaking to The Times she said: ‘There is still a widespread belief that parents should introduce their children to alcohol to teach them how to drink.
‘However, research shows that the earlier a child starts drinking the more likely they are to develop alcohol-related problems in later life.
‘That’s why it’s so important to delay the initiation of drinking for as long as possible.’
The NHS recommends that people drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week — the equivalent to six pints of beer, or six medium glasses of wine — spread out over at least three days.
In the UK under 18s cannot legally purchase alcohol, however over 16s can drink (but not buy) beer, wine or cider with a meal, if they are accompanied by an adult.
The NHS recommends people drink no more than 14 ‘units’ of alcohol — around six glasses of wine, or pints of beer — per week
However official health guidance states that ‘children under 15 should not drink any alcohol’ due to the damage it causes to developing organs and bones.
Meanwhile, alongside liver damage, heavy alcohol use has been linked to increase risk of a variety of cancers, including breast, head and neck and digestive system cancer, including bowel cancer.
The OECD hinted that the UKs lessez fair attitude to drinking and alcohol legislation was part of the problem.
The report states: ‘Heavy episodic drinking is a particularly harmful pattern of alcohol consumption.
‘To address the substantial burden of alcohol-related harm, EU countries have implemented various policies and interventions aimed at reducing consumption and promoting responsible drinking.
‘These include taxation, restrictions on availability and advertising regulations.
‘However, the effectiveness of these measures is often limited by inadequate implementation, resource constraints and industry resistance.’
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