14 units per week

People keep banging on about our relationship with alcohol compared to the so-called cafe culture in France and southern Europe.

There does seem to be a tendency in Britain to pour as much beer down our necks on a Firday night in as short a time as possible but my understanding is that there is a massive problem with alcoholism in France. They and other countries also have far higher rates of alcohol-related liver disease so I think we should put this myth to bed.

Another fallacy is this business of introducing kids to supposedly responsible drinking at an early age.
All they achieve is to get the kids drinking earlier in life, and ultimately start getting drunk earlier in life if they're that way inclined.

The longer you put children off drinking the better in my opinion.
In fact I'd recommend not giving youngsters any encouragement whatsoever as far as drinking is concerned.
They'll find out about it soon enough without any help.

I'm not sure that is true about the continental countries have a higher liver disease issue than the brits.
Think The Scots alone have the worst in Europe. Our Continental cousins also have a far higher life expectancy, they're far healthier than your typical Brit.

They don't fall about drunk like we do here. A couple of glasses with their evening meal is the norm. It's the binge drinking that causes most problems.

French, Spanish, Italians, Portugese etc all healthier than the Brits.

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/liver-disease/by-country/

Every Southern European Country healthier than us when it comes to liver disease. These are all nations that by large drink wine with their evening meals rather than binge drink to the extent of us Brits. Any coincidence?

The UK is ranked 119 in the world on the liver disease chart, with Germany just in front with France, Spain and Portugal just behind.
There's not a lot in the figures.

Saudi Arabia 0.05 per 100,000

The UK is certainly not even, there was some report a year or two back and I think the south east had a much lower drinking level, so the other areas have to try that bit harder to push the statistics up.

The South East needs to try harder imho, they are letting the side down. Where's they olympic spirit?

I think we need lottery funding for piss-heads in the greater London area.

they won't be happy until we're all drinking beetroot juice

Agree Dr Crippen, don't introduce your kids to alcohol.

Neither of my parents drank alcohol at home, so I only had alcohol when I started going to discos and pubs and I could take it or leave it.  I never kept alcohol at home, apart from collecting miniatures from here and around the world which I never drank until I demolished the entire collection. Then, unfortunately, when I was about 30 I was invited to a posh dinner party where wine was served, which I had never had, and that was it

It is also weird that both my parents smoked but neither I or my two brothers do.

14 my @rse

it's not the booze that gets ya it's the bloody bus when you're trying to cross the road.