Revellers enjoy themselves in a pub in Newcastle town center, United Kingdom. Teenage girls in the UK have overtaken boys as binge drinkers for the first time and are now second only behind Irish girls in Europe, according to a report on Thursday. The Institute of Alcohol Studies said 29 percent of teenage girls were binge drinkers in 2003 compared with 26 percent of boys. In 1999 the figure was 27 percent and 33 percent respectively. It said over a quarter of all 15- and 16-year-olds in Britain had been on drink binges three or more times in last month. In contrast France, where it is not unusual for children to be given watered-down wine with meals as a way of introducing them to alcohol, had very low binge-drinking levels among adolescents. The study, funded by the European Commission, found only 9 percent of French youngsters were classed as binge drinkers. Among adults, Britons rank among the top binge drinkers in Europe, causing widespread damage to the nation's health and social fabric. The study said British drinkers binge about once every 13 days - 28 times a year - the second-highest rate in Europe behind Finland and Ireland, both on 32 times. The social cost of alcohol across Europe was estimated to be 125 billion euros from healthcare, crime and work issues. If alcohol taxes were used to raise the price of alcohol in the EU by 10 percent, over 9,000 deaths would be prevented in the following year, according to the study. Alcohol is the third biggest public health problem in Europe after tobacco and high blood pressure.   (Agencies)

上周四公布的一项调查报告显示，英国青少年中女孩的酗酒比例首次超过男孩，目前仅次于爱尔兰，位居欧洲第二。 据英国酒精研究所介绍，2003年，英国有29％的女孩和26％的男孩酗酒；而1999年这两个数字分别为27％和33％。 另据介绍，英国十五六岁的青少年中四分之一以上的人在上个月了痛饮至少三次。 与此相反，法国青少年中的酗酒的人很少。法国小孩在吃饭时常能喝到掺了水的酒，以此来慢慢适应酒精。 这项由欧洲委员会提供资金支持的调查还发现，法国只有9％的年轻人可以被划入酗酒行列。 英国成年人的酗酒比例在欧洲名列前茅。酗酒大大损害了英国的国民健康，并对社会结构造成了影响。 调查表明，英国的酒鬼们每13天要大喝一次，即每年平均喝28次，仅次于芬兰和爱尔兰的32次记录，位居欧洲第二。 据估计，全欧洲因喝酒而花费在健康保健、犯罪以及工作事故方面的社会成本达到1250亿欧元。 调查发现，如果通过开征酒精税将欧盟的酒价上调10％，第二年则可避免9000例死亡。酗酒是欧洲公共健康的第三大问题，仅次于嗜烟和高血压。 (英语点津姗姗编辑)