Young, Islamic and girls: drinking more

A study carried out for the London assembly shows that young Bangladeshis and Pakistanis – whose Islamic faith forbids alcohol – are now drinking more. So are kids. So are girls.

Eleven- to 15-year-olds in London drink an equivalent of 180,000 bottles of lager a week, a survey reports today. The increase is most significant among young girls; their drinking habits have caught up with boys. Hospital admissions for young women, however, are almost double those for men of the same age because of their lower tolerance of alcohol.

According to the survey, one in six men (17%) are concerned that their drinking will lead to "man boobs", one in four (27%) are worried about developing a beer belly, more than one in eight (13%) fear their drinking is affecting their appearance and nearly one in 10 (9%) worry that it is affecting their sexual performance.

The report also says that young people from Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities are more likely to drink than they were a few years ago. Even though the rates are still below the capital's average, the figures are expected to rise.

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