A disproportionate number of people treated for alcohol overdoses in emergency rooms in Great Britain are under age 14, the Telegraph reported Oct. 8.

Of the 2,239 people under age 59 treated for alcohol problems during the past year, about one in seven was under age 14. "I can well believe these figures, it does not come as a surprise," said Frank Soodeen of the group Alcohol Concern. "We have already seen that the amount 11 and 13-year-olds are consuming when they are drunk has doubled. This is an issue not just about the accessibility of drink for youngsters, but also the influences they encounter."

Soodeen laid blame at the feet of the alcohol industry, which he said increases alcohol advertising during the after-school hours and far outspends government alcohol-awareness campaigns.