How UK men are Europe’s second worst binge drinkers

BRITISH boozers are among the worst binge drinkers in Europe, say scientists.

The first study to compare drinking habits in European countries has found British men are second only to the Portuguese for over-indulging.

A binge is defined as more than eight units, or just over three pints of beer, in one sitting, at least once a week.

British women are behind only Portugal and the Netherlands for bingeing on alcohol, defined as more than six units, or two large glasses of wine in one sitting during the week.

Researchers from Norway found Britain falls in the bottom three of 21 European countries when bingedrinking rates are compared.

And UK women are among the worst for average alcohol consumption on weekdays and weekends.

Separate from the binge drinking figures, the scientists also found that British women drank more on weekends than those in any other countries except Ireland and Hungary.

They consumed 6.4 units on average on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

In a damning sign of ‘wine o’ clock’ culture, women also drank more on weekdays than those in all other countries excluding Ireland and the Czech Republic, downing 3.6 units on average during the working week.

Expert analysis of what we drink found that alcopops and pints of beer are still among Britons’ favourite tipples, compared to the much smaller servings and liqueur drinks preferred in southern Europe.

Lead author Professor Terje Eikemo, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said: ‘Our results show a huge difference in how much men and women drink on average across Europe, with men drinking twice as much – but in the UK men drink three times as much.’ He added: ‘We are concerned about the consequences for health.’

The study, part of the European Social Survey, shows almost two in five men in Britain drink alcohol more than once a week, along with a quarter of women.

The rate for men who bingedrink is 11.2 per cent of the population, behind only Portugal at 17.5 per cent.

For women, the rate is 4 per cent, behind 5.2 per cent of females in Portugal and 5.1 per cent in the Netherlands. The figures show that southern Europe’s cafe culture has never taken off in Britain, despite the then-Labour government’s decision to allow 24-hour drinking in 2005.

The study also found women in Israel, central and Eastern Europe drank the least, with the Irish drinking the most overall.

The scientists surveyed 40,000 people across Europe, including around 2,000 in the UK.

To do this, they developed a questionnaire tailored to the drinking habits in each geographical area by using cards that illustrated alcohol units, plus information on the types and quantities of alcohol sold in different parts of Europe.

The survey responses were then converted to the number of grams of alcohol.

Binge-drinking rates for both men and women together were not calculated, but could be worked out using the average for both genders.