Why do the British drink to much?

It is very unfortunate that the British have been labelled as a nation with a drink problem, but I can understand why. In recent years there has been a large increase in the number of young people and women who drink alcohol and binge drinking seems to be on the increase too.

“the amount of alcohol consumed by girls aged between 11-13 has increased by 82.6% between 2000-2006, while for boys the number has gone up by 43.4% during the same period.”
Age Concern
 
“Official figures show that 7,579 under-18s were admitted to hospital suffering from the effects of alcohol in the 12 months from April 2004.
That is 21 a day and is almost double the previous year’s figure.”
Daily Mail November 2007

So why do we drink too much?

The culture of drinking in the UK is markedly different from other European nations. In mainland Europe, alcohol tends to be consumed more slowly over the course of an evening, often accompanied by a restaurant meal. In the UK, by contrast, alcohol is generally consumed rapidly, leading much more readily to drunkenness.

Several recent newspapers reports put the blame on cheap alcohol and stress.

“Supermarkets are selling beer at a cheaper price than water, fuelling concern over their role in Britain’s binge-drinking crisis. Despite repeated public health warnings, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda now offer lager at just 22p a can – less per litre than their ownbrand-mineral water and cola, and cheap enough to allow someone to get drunk for just £1. “
The Mail on Sunday November 2007

The response to this is that a coalition of 24 charities, medical bodies and patients’ groups now want the Government to increase the tax on alcohol, saying that a rise of 10 per cent would cut alcohol-related deaths by up to 30 per cent.

Britain is in the top ten of countries that drink the most alcohol

The Economist released a study on which countries drink the most. Britain comes tenth in the list with an average of just under 12 litres of alcohol drunk by each person in a year. In America, where stricter minumum-age requirements apply, the average person drinks 8.6 litres a year.