TheSite.org binge drinking survey

TheSite.org hosted an online survey in January/February 2006 on binge drinking. A total of 157 respondents completed the survey.

The results:

• 157 people completed this survey, 84% of whom were aged 16-25;
• Respondents drink in lots of different places - most commonly the pub, their own, or their friend's houses;
• Almost three-quarters have had pubs in their area opening later due to new drinking laws;
• Two in five drank more this Christmas than in previous years, the most common reason being that they were old enough to buy alcohol this year;
• Christmas was better this year for more than a third of people - and generally this was due to going out more with friends;
• Those who live in areas with later opening hours due to new laws did not drink more than those not affected - in fact, tended to drink less;
• Only one in 10 people see stories in the media about drink-related crime as accurate;
• Binge drinking is generally acknowledged to be drinking a lot - whether over a short period of time or simply drinking to get drunk;
• On this definition, a little over half of respondents say they binge drink;
• Only a quarter of respondents think the Government definition of binge drinking is accurate. Based on this definition, two thirds binge drink.