New report shows true scale of children's drinking

Although there are now some signs that children's alcohol consumption in the U.K. might be levelling off a new report by the charity Alcohol Concern presents a worrying picture of just how much Britain's children are drinking. The report found that 13 girls were admitted to accident and emergency departments every day with alcohol poisoning, compared to ten boys. Between 2002 and 2007 the number of under 18s admitted to hospital through drink increased by a third. Underage drinkers consume around 6.9 million pints of beer (or equivalent thereof) or 1.7 million bottles of wine each week with an estimated 630,000 11-17-year-olds drinking twice or more per week.