Irish students are worst binge-drinkers - European survey

IOL: Irish students are worst binge-drinkers - European survey: "Irish students are worst binge-drinkers - European survey
14/12/2004 - 13:05:00

Ireland's teenagers have emerged as the worst binge-drinkers among a survey of 100,000 European students carried out last year.

Thirty-two per cent of Irish respondents to the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs said they had consumed more than five alcoholic drinks in a row at least three times in the previous 30 days.

The next highest level of binge-drinking was in the Netherlands (28%), followed by the UK (27%) and Malta and Sweden (25%).

The problem of binge-drinking in Ireland was also found to be more pronounced among girls, with 33% admitting to binge-drinking, compared to 31% of boys.

The only other country where more girls admitted to binge-drinking than boys was the United Kingdom.

The lowest rate of binge drinking in the 35 countries where the survey was carried was in Turkey, where 5% of respondents said they had engaged in the practice in the previous 30 days."