Heavy drinking girls down 14 glasses in one sitting

BINGE-drinking Aussie girls down 14 drinks a session, and two-thirds of them prefer ­spirits.

The majority of both girls and boys reported at least one negative consequence of their drinking. Almost 40 per cent did embarrassing things. Photo: Supplied

BINGE-drinking Aussie girls down 14 drinks a session, and two-thirds of them prefer ­spirits.

Drinking among the ­nation’s youth has declined, but research out today shows some teenagers continue to put themselves at risk with ­extreme alcohol consumption.

The study from the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, Monash University and the University of New South Wales investigated the habits of “high-­intensity drinkers” aged 16-19.

Participants’ most recent risky drinking sessions were “normal get-togethers”, predominantly birthday parties.

The study found teen boys managed to consume 17 drinks in a typical six-hour bender.

The majority of both girls and boys reported at least one negative consequence of their drinking. Almost 40 per cent did embarrassing things.

Almost half rode in a car where the driver was drunk, 18 per cent regretted impulsive behaviour, a quarter could not remember large stretches of time, 11 per cent ended up in emergency, 10 per cent passed out, and 8 per cent got into ­sexual situations they later ­regretted.

Curtin University’s Dr Tina Lam said: “While we have been witnessing more abstinence in young people, we have not seen a decline in arrivals at the emergency departments.

“It is concerning that there is a group of teens who are still putting themselves at substantial risk,” she said.

The most popular drinking places were private homes, presumably to keep the cost down. The mean cost of each binge was $49.

Dr Lam said: “It is a worry that we found quite a number of the teenagers were showing an indication of ­alcohol dependence.” Research has shown people who begin drinking while still teenagers are more at risk of alcohol-related harm, such as cirrhosis of the liver, later in life.

“It is clear that this population is not only at risk by virtue of their regular consumption of high alcohol quantities, but due to their experience of concrete, acute consequences and greater likelihood of possible dependence,” the study’s authors wrote in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

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