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There is no agreed definition of binge drinking for young people. The smoking, drinking and drug use survey of secondary school children in England provides national estimates of the proportions of young people aged 11 to 15 who smoke, drink alcohol or take illegal drugs. We have used those data between 2001 and 2006 to summarise the units of alcohol consumed by young people in the previous seven days.
Percentage 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Number not drinking alcohol in last week 77.2 79.3 78.5 80.4 81.0 82.6 More than 0 but less than four units of alcohol drunk in last week 8.0 6.1 7.0 6.0 5.9 5.4 Four to less than eight units of alcohol drunk in last week 5.2 4.9 5.4 4.4 4.8 3.9 Eight to less than 12 units of alcohol drunk in last week 3.4 3.3 3.2 3.1 2.7 2.3 12 to less than 20 units of alcohol drunk in last week 3.3 3.5 3.4 3.1 2.9 3.0 20 or more units of alcohol drunk in last seven days 3.0 2.9 2.5 3.0 2.7 2.8
Data taken from the smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2001-06 surveys published by the NHS information Centre and Department of Health.
The table shows the percentage of young people not drinking any alcohol in the last seven days has increased over the last five years, from 77.2 per cent. in 2001 to 82.6 per cent. in 2006. Also the percentage of pupils drinking less than eight units has similarly decreased from 13.2 per cent. in 2001 to 9.3 per cent. in 2006. However the percentage of pupils drinking eight or more units in the last seven days has remained fairly stable between 2001 and 2006.