Med binge drinking 'on the rise'
Younger people in Spain drink more than their elders, study finds
Tuesday, 25, Sep 2007 08:11
Binge drinking is on the rise in some parts of the Mediterranean, new research has found.
More northerly European countries including Britain are usually associated with problem drinking, with policies geared towards achieving a seemingly more responsible Mediterranean attitude to alcohol.
But a study published today in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research says that binge drinking is increasing among young adults in the Madrid region of Spain, especially educated men.
The report also found that alcohol consumed by binge drinkers tends to be in the form of spirits rather than beer or wine.
This is a shift away from the Mediterranean tradition of drinking a glass or two of wine each day to accompany meals.
"Although traditionally, southern European countries had a pattern of higher per capita consumption, most of which was derived from daily consumption of wine with meals this is changing," said researcher Joan Villalbi.
"For example, daily consumption with meals is decreasing in Spain, and beer is the most consumed alcohol. Binge drinking, particularly among youth on weekend nights, has become a health and social issue in Spain, a process mirrored in other countries of southern Europe."
The researchers base their findings on data gathered during 2000 to 2005 through telephone interviews of 12,037 people aged between 18 and 64 in the Madrid region.
Binge drinking was defined as drinking eight or more units of alcohol for men and six or more for women during one drinking session.
The results showed that 30.8 per cent of men and 18.2 per cent of women aged 18 to 24 years were binge drinkers.
"Although drinking to drunkenness is not socially acceptable in Spain binge drinking is becoming acceptable, especially among youth," Dr Villalb concluded.
"However, this is considered to be a fairly new phenomenon for which little empirical data existed. This data would have been extremely useful earlier in 2007 when there was an attempt to develop point-of-sale and publicity regulations on alcohol."