Drinkers in the UK get drunk more often than any other nationality, according to a survey.
They reported getting drunk 51.1 times in a 12-month period – almost once a week.
English-speaking countries led the results, with the USA, Canada and Australia closely following the UK.
Not only do Britons get drunk more often, but they also regret it less with only 18.5% of their drinking sessions feeling like a bad idea in the morning, compared with 20% globally.
Women reported regretting their boozing more than men, but the data showed that generally people “overwhelmingly like getting drunk”, the report said.
Researchers from the Global Drug Survey spoke to more than 120,000 from 36 countries – including 5,400 people from across the UK.
The survey’s founder, Professor Adam Winstock, said that while fewer people were drinking, many who are doing so in a potentially harmful way.
“We get told too much is bad, and it is, but current guidelines fail to accept the pleasure of intoxication and give a little guide on the difference between being a little drunk and a lot drunk, and doing it 3-4 times a year versus weekly.
“We need to have that conversation,” said Professor Winstock.
He added: “In the UK we don’t tend to do moderation, we end up getting drunk as the point of the evening.
“Until culture changes and we become more European and moderate in our drinking, we might have to bite the bullet and think about how to advise people to get drunk drinking less.
“Getting drunk carries risks of injury and health harm, but we need to start highlighting the risks at different levels of drinking even if they are above safe limits.”
NHS guidelines say there is no “safe” level and advise that men and women should not regularly drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week.
That’s the same as a bottle and a half of wine of five pints of 5% lager.
The Alcohol Information Partnership, funded by the drinks industry, said it was doubtful about the survey’s findings.
“This report runs contrary to the vast weight of the data,” said a spokesman,
“Major reports by globally-respected organisations such as the World Health Organisation and the ONS have consistently shown that drinking in the UK has been falling for more than a decade and Brits are actually drinking less than many of our European neighbours.
“The industry remains committed to tackling harmful drinking and the evidence shows that the way people drink in the UK is changing with people increasingly choosing fewer, better quality drinks which is a positive move in the right direction.”
Source : Sky News :
http://news.sky.com/story/uk-drinkers-get-drunk-more-often-than-anyone-else-says-study-11721036