According to The Guardian 04/08/06, England is becoming a binge drinking nation?

Question

...or was we always major boozers, and it is only now coming to light.

Answer 1

We, as a nation, were always binge drinkers, only in manifested itself in different ways. In more recent times, all people of the nation have become less inhibited, and as such so have the expressions of being bladdered.

Answer 2

I think its very possible the UK is becoming a nation of binge drinkers, I have a friend who goes out on a Friday night straight from work, she drinks right through till about 3 am, goes home and doesn't surface from her bedroom till Sunday afternoon, then whinges all week that her weekends always seem to fly, you should see the amount of drink she puts away too, how she does it let alone afford it startles me in both cases, I have tried to talk to her about the amount she is drinking and all she ever says is I need to unwind as I have a stressful job, doesn't everyone have that who works, she also eats nothing during the day on a Friday let alone the rest of the weekend, no wonder her skin and hair are so dull and lifeless, its a big worry and I don't know if they do this binge drinking for competition or just cause they can, all I know is I wouldn't get in a car with any of them no matter what day of the week it is as they must spend the days they are not drinking trying to become sober again, pretty sad how things have turned out for the people who think its cool to binge drink.

Answer 3

Binge drinkers are typically English in that they drink as much as they can and as often as they can, especially the age groups below 45 .... Our European counterparts binge drink but far less often. Go to any bar district anywhere in the world and the main 'drunks', layabouts and those looking for fights will be Brits. There have been heavy drinkers going back hundreds of years and there will be in the next few hundred. The difference over the last 40 years is the lack of discipline these 40 somethings and younger had from parents. Binge drinking like smoking kills ... both are cured with self discipline or never starting.

Answer 4

It depends on how you define "binge drinking". The link below has some information on this. About two years ago, the UK government decided that 2 pints of beer in one session for a woman was binge drinking.

People drink more heavily the further they are from the equator - Sweden, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Russia, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia - all these countries are heavy drinkers. A tendency to get drunk is just one of our weaknesses as a nation.

Answer 5

We've always been big drinkers, but the difference now is that young people are outdrinking adults. The kind of alcohol available has completely changed and the drinking offers in bars and clubs accelerate the rate at which we drink.
Lifestyles have also changed people are more stressed and feel they need to really let go at the weekend.
People go out nowadays with the intent to get wasted! Where as 20 years ago it would just be for a social drink.

Answer 6

England has always been a binge-drinking culture. Our fixed drinking hours and our idea that drinking too much is manly make us the drunkards of Europe.
The main limitation on binging has always been money, people who have more money get drunker more often than people who have less.
Now that everyone has more money than ever before, and drink is cheaper than ever, we have a drink problem which is almost as bad as America's. Changing attitudes towards women's drinking mean that it is also now acceptable for women to be seen in public so drunk that they cannot stand up or get themselves home.
People who depend on a drug this much must lead very empty and sad lives.

Answer 7

I think beers on sale in supermarkets and pubs have on average got higher alcohol content than a few years ago.

Also kids are growing up earlier, so they are starting drinking earlier, and young adults settling down later, so they are binge drinking for more years.

Having said that we have always been a nation of big drinkers.

Answer 8

I think its always been there, its just reported on more now, the papers like a bit of sensationalism,, must have been a slow news day or something.

I personally dont see the appeal of going out and getting wasted every weekend, I like a drink but cant stand to get so wasted I feel rough the next day.

I see someone sitting outside of a supermarket last night absolutely out of it, he had wet himself and was being sick too, how can that be a good night?



God made weed, man made booze, who do you trust?

Answer 9

I don't live in England but I watch that show Booze Britain and it shocks me, mind you it only shows the absolute worst side to the drinking culture in the UK. I don't think it's strictly Britain that's becoming a nation of binge drinkers- it's worldwide, scary doughnuts!!

Answer 10

There has always been a problem. Read this Wikipeadia entry on Gin as an example, skip down to the part on History or the entries on Hogarth's paintings and Fielding's writings.