Binge drinking still a worry in France despite drop in daily consumption
While regular alcohol consumption in France had dropped over the past 30 years, the phenomenon of binge drinking remains a cause for concern for public health officials.
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According to research published by health authorities Santé Publique France, people still drink a lot, though less than they used to.
Adults consume an average of 10.5 litres of pure alcohol per year, more than those in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Over the past 30 years, the number of adults who drink alcohol every day has dropped by two-thirds, and now stands at 8 percent of the French population.
The public health institute says the decline is driven by a drop in wine consumption, cultural changes and the introduction of public policies to encourage less drinking.
The proportion of French people who drink alcohol every week is also falling, but there are differences in consumption by gender, age and region.
Women and binge drinking
Binge drinking – defined as the consumption of more than six glasses of alcohol on a single occasion – remains stable among men, but is on the rise among women over the age of 35.
The phenomenon of "heavy binge drinking" is higher than average in three French regions: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Brittany and Pays de la Loire.
Also, while those under the age of 25 consume alcohol half as often as those over the age of 75, they drink more in terms of quantity. Younger people, on average, drink twice as much as their elders on each occasion.
Alcohol consumption is of concern to health authorities as it kills 41,000 people a year, according to Santé publique France.
It also leads to liver, cardiovascular and neurological complications.
Some 60 diseases and 8 percent of all new cancer cases are also linked to alcohol.
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