Binge-drink youths 'wrecks at 30'

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A long-term study involving more than 11,000 British children discovered that teenagers who drank heavily suffered a host of problems aged 30.

Children who were binge-drinkers at the age of 16 were 60% more likely to be alcoholic at 30 and 70% more likely to regularly drink heavily than those who had not been.

They were 40% more likely to use illegal drugs, 40% more likely to suffer mental health problems and 60% more likely to be homeless.

They were also 40% more likely to have suffered accidents, almost four times as likely to have been excluded from school and 30% more likely to have gained no qualifications.

The binge-drinkers were almost twice (90% more) as likely to have criminal convictions, the study found.

The authors of the study were Dr Russell Viner and Professor Brent Taylor, from the Institute of Child Health in London.

They used data from the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study of thousands of babies born in 1970, with follow-ups included at the ages of 16 (in 1986) and 30 (in 2000).

Adolescent binge-drinking was defined as "two or more episodes of consuming four or more drinks in a row in the previous two weeks".

Meanwhile, frequent regular alcohol intake was defined as drinking on two or more occasions per week in the previous year.