Report Says U.K. Has Worst Teen Alcohol Problems

Teenagers in the U.K. are more likely to get drunk than those in other industrialized nations, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The BBC reported Sept. 1 that the study found that 13- to 15-year-olds in the U.K. were more likely to have been drunk on multiple occasions than teens in any of the 24 OECD nations. One-third of young teens in the U.K. had been drunk at least twice in their lives, double the rates in the U.S., France, and Italy.

Among girls, the drunkenness rate was four times higher in the U.K. as in the U.S. at age 13. And by age 15, half of girls in the U.K. reported having been drunk on multiple occasions.

Report co-author Dominic Richardson said the problem in the U.K. might be particularly acute because teens there tend to drink first with their peers rather than using alcohol in moderation with their families.