Lifestyle
Over the limit? Gail Vernon looks at alcohol consumption in the UK, and what can be done to reduce it.
Alcoholic liver deaths increased by 21 per cent during year of the pandemic. This is a concerning statistic and one that caught my attention. I am not embarrassed to say I enjoy a drink, especially one with bubbles. For years I have limited my drinking to just weekends, but the weekend would often start on a Friday night. Although I may not have drunk a high number in terms of overall units of alcohol, I now find that I have been on many occasions a binge drinker. Now, before you think I should visit Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) do you realise just what this means? The definition used by the Office of National Statistics for binge drinking is having
Gail Vernon is the director of VSM Healthcare.
38
Issue 1 2022
pg38-39 Over the limit? (GV).indd 38
over eight units in a single session for men and over six units for women. In my terms that equates to two thirds of a bottle of prosecco which is a regular Friday night. But what happened during the pandemic? For me, like many others, working from home for the first lockdown meant that the weekends merged into the weekdays. Yes, I drank more than I would have done previously especially as the weather was so good. A seat in the garden at the end of the working day with a drink replaced the daily commute.
(meaning that tax has been paid and it is available to be bought) during the pandemic was still similar to the prepandemic years, which suggests people were drinking more at home.
It looks like I wasn’t alone. A report published in July 2021 looked at the trends in alcohol consumption and harm since the onset of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Not surprisingly, and as mentioned earlier, the findings show an increase in total alcohol-specific deaths, driven by an unprecedented annual increase in alcoholic liver disease deaths above levels seen pre-pandemic.
In 2016 the UK chief medical officers (CMOs) dropped the recommended number of units for alcohol for men down to 14 units per week. This was brought in line with the same number of units recommended for women. To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level, the CMOs advise it is safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis.
Despite pubs, clubs and restaurants closing for approximately 31 weeks during the national lockdowns, the total amount of alcohol released for sale
Data from a consumer purchasing panel show that in shops and supermarkets just over 12.6m extra litres of alcohol were sold in the financial year 2020 to 2021 compared to 2019 to 2020 (a 24.4 per cent increase). Low risk drinking
The chief medical officers’ guideline for both men and women states that: To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level it is safest not to drink more
DentalInsider 21/04/2022 10:17
