Mean alcohol consumption of children aged 11-15 who drank in the last week, by sex, England, 1990-2004
Young drinkers aged 11 to 15 in England doubled their average weekly consumption of alcohol during the 1990s – from 5.3 in 1990 to 10.4 units in 2004. It has since stabilised for boys and continues to increase for girls. The greatest increase has been among girls aged 14, from 3.8 units in 1992 to 9.7 in 2004. In each year, among those who drank, boys consumed more alcohol than girls in every age group.
The proportion of children who drank increased with age, from 4 per cent of 11-year-olds to 45 per cent of 15-year-olds in 2004. Among both boys and girls, 23 per cent aged 11 to 15 drank alcohol in the previous week. Before 2004 the percentage was higher for boys than girls.
Adults drinking more than the recommended guidelines on at least one day last week: by age and sex, 2004, GB
Among adults in GB in 2004 nearly one in three (30 per cent) exceeded the recommended daily benchmark (of no more than four units for men and three units for women) on at least one day during the previous week. Men were more likely to exceed the benchmark than women – 39 per cent of men compared with 22 per cent of women.
Younger people were more likely to exceed the daily benchmarks. Just under half (47 per cent) of men aged 16 to 24 did so on at least one day during the previous week compared with 20 per cent of men aged 65 and over. The corresponding figures for women were 39 per cent and 5 per cent.
Heavy drinking – defined as more than eight units a day for men and six units a day for women – on at least one day during the previous week was much more common among men (22 per cent) than women (9 per cent). Young people aged 16 to 24 were the most likely to drink heavily (32 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women). People aged 65 and over were the least likely to drink heavily (7 per cent of men and 1 per cent of women).
Drinking above the recommended guidelines leads to increased risk of harm, both immediately and in later life. It is estimated that there were 5,500 alcohol-related deaths in England and Wales in 2000, the majority from chronic liver disease such as cirrhosis.
Each year there are also approximately 3,500 deaths on UK roads, of which around one in six are alcohol related. Drink-drive fatalities have fallen by two-thirds since the late 1970s. In 2003, Department of Transport estimates showed there were still 580 fatalities and 2,600 serious injuries where at least one of the drivers involved was over the legal limit.
Sources: Survey of smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England, Department of Health General Household Survey, Office for National Statistics.
Notes: Data presented in two-yearly intervals. In 1992, the Government introduced the weekly guideline that men should drink under 21 units per week and women under 14 units per week. In 1995, the guidelines were changed from weekly to daily, advising that men should drink no more than four units per day and women no more than three units per day. A unit is defined as 8 grams of alcohol which is equivalent to half a pint of ordinary strength beer, a small (125ml) glass of wine (at 9 per cent strength) or one measure of spirits.
The legal limit for the alcohol level for driving is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
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