Up to 40 percent of teens living in poor areas of England drink alcohol, and weekly drinkers also were likely to be involved in violence, according to researchers at Liverpool John Moores University.

The BBC reported March 28 that researchers found that 40 percent of girls and 42 percent of boys who drank at least once a week were later involved in violence. Further, poor children who drank were 45 percent more likely to be violent than their more affluent peers.

About 10,000 15- and 16-year-olds in Northwest England took part in the study.

Dominic Harrison, deputy regional director of public health in Northwest England, said the increasing problem of youth drinking is caused by "lower prices and increased availability, but culture and the increasing social tolerance of drunken behavior is also a factor."

About one in three teens surveyed said they bought their own alcohol.