Nearly 60% women university students get drunk in record time

Spanish researchers have found that women university students get drunk – on purpose – quicker than their male counterparts, and live a more sedentary life than the latter.

According to a study by the University of Vigo, 56.1 per cent of female students are considered binge drinkers, as opposed to 41.3 per cent of males.

Researchers from the HealthyFit group at the university have studied university students' lifestyles; their analysis, which includes alcohol and illegal drug consumption habits, sport and food, concludes that most students indulge in unhealthy behaviour.

One of the main results of the study, published by the Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, is the high consumption of alcohol.

"The amount drunk per unit of time is higher among women. In other words, even though male students drink more often, females do so more intensively in shorter periods of time, which is known as binge drinking", Jose Cancela Carral, co-author of the study said.

Researchers randomly selected 985 students from different degree courses and in different years at the University of Vigo.

Of the females interviewed, 51.2 per cent lead a sedentary lifestyle, while the percentage in males is 41.7 per cent.

When analysing students who maintain an appropriate level of physical activity, 38.6 per cent of males do physical exercise, as opposed to only 20.9 per cent of women.

"We were also surprised by the high consumption of illegal drugs among university students – 44.9 per cent of men and 30.9 per cent of women – which we understand could lead to significant future health problems, mainly related to the nervous system", underlined the researcher.

Anomalous attitudes to food were more evident among women (16.6 per cent), although also present among men (8.8 per cent).

"However, the statistical analysis showed that this parameter depended on the degree the student was studying for", Cancela added.