Despite signs to the contrary - eg a doubling of alcohol-related death since 1991 - new figures show this:
The proportion of men in Great Britain exceeding the government’s daily sensible drinking benchmarks fell from 39 per cent in 2004 to 35 per cent in 2005. Women are less likely than men to exceed the benchmarks, with 20 per cent of women exceeding the sensible drinking benchmark on at least one day in the previous week in 2005.
Heavy drinking - defined as over eight units a day for men and six units a day for women on at least one day during the previous week - was more common among men (19 per cent) than women (8 per cent).
The recent upward trend in heavy drinking among young women may have peaked. The proportion of 16 to 24 year old women who had drunk more than six units on at least one day in the previous week increased from 24 per cent to 28 per cent between 1998 and 2002 but has since fallen to 22 per cent in 2005.
More details from National Statistics
What could explain this? A few suggestions: culture changes in our drinking habits - are we getting the message at last, increased under reporting as opprobium grows, bigger measures/glass sizes leading to under reporting. Or other things I haven't thought of.
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