At least 10 drinks a month
They start early, but don’t get drunk as often as their counterparts in other European Union countries. According to a nationwide survey of the school population on drugs and alcohol taken in 2003 by the Macedonia University Research Institute of Mental Health among 8,658 pupils aged 14-18, 16 percent said they had drunk alcohol at least 10 times over the previous month. About one in three boys and 17 percent of girls aged 17-18 drink more than twice a week, while half of all 17-year-olds had had at least five drinks in one session over the previous month. Like other Europeans, Greek youths have a preference for beer, with wine and hard drinks in second place. According to the survey, Greek teenagers drink a lot but don’t get drunk as often as other young Europeans appear to. Just 3 percent of Greek teens aged 14-18 have been drunk at least 10 times over the past year. Boys aged 17-18 are more susceptible; 8.8 percent of them said they had gone overboard at least 10 times over the previous year.
