Children 'drink 15 vodkas per week'

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Some youngsters revealed that on average they drink 14.6 units of alcohol a week - the same as around seven pints of beer, 15 125ml glasses of wine or almost 10 alcopops.

Nearly one in five (18%) - an estimated 550,000 pupils - said they had drunk alcohol in the last week, the NHS Information Centre survey for 2008 found.

Three fifths of those who had drunk alcohol in the week before the survey (62% of boys and 57% of girls) said when consuming alcohol they drank an average of more than four units of alcohol a day - the same as four shots of vodka.

The figures show that the amount of alcohol young people are drinking is rising - in 2007 the average weekly consumption was 12.7 units.

The annual Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People survey, questioned almost 7,800 pupils in 263 secondary schools in England - representing an estimated population of around 3.1 million youngsters.

It found that around a third (31%) of 11-to-15-year-olds said they had been drinking alcohol in the past month.

Of these, more than half (53%) admitted they had been drunk in that time, with more than one in 10 (11%) admitting to being drunk once or twice in the month, and 6% saying they had been drunk three or more times.

The study found that 11 to 15-year-olds are three times more likely to drink alcohol if they live with other drinkers.

Tim Straughan, chief executive of the NHS Information Centre said: "Our survey provides valuable insight into the behaviour of young people and shows an apparent connection between their behaviour towards drinking and smoking and that of others in their household."