Bigger glasses, stronger wine, Britons booze in excess

London, Dec 14 (UNI) ''Excess of everything is bad,'' and it holds true for the Britons who are drinking three times more as wine is now stronger and glasses are bigger.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that almost 13 million adults are jeopardising their health due to the changing trend of larger measures and stronger wine.

Strength of the average bottle has increased from nine per cent in 1978 to 12.5 per cent at present and this is injurious to the health of wine drinkers, especially women.

For men the hazardous drinking level is between 22 and 50 units a week while for women it is between 15 and 35 units. The dangerous levels on the other hand are 50 units and more than 35 units a week for men and women respectively.

The statisticians found that the number of people, drinking to dangerous levels, has doubled to 3.3 million.

Expressing concern over the situation, the president of the Royal College of Physicians and the chair of Alcohol Health Alliance, Ian Gilmore, said, ''As a nation we are drinking above the safe limits and putting our health at serious risk doing it.'' ''Those who are drinking too much alcohol aren't just the type you would typically think of as binge drinkers, they are middle-class people who think that having a glass or two a night every night is fine,'' the Telegraph quoted Mr Gilmore, as saying.

UNI