One in six people are worried about the amount of alcohol they are drinking at home, based on the number of bottles and cans they recycle, new research shows.
[PAGEBREAK]
A new £1m poster campaign (pictured) by drinks industry lobby group The Drinkaware Trust focuses not on typical ‘binge drinkers’ but on middle class drinkers for whom a glass of wine with dinner becomes three or four.
The campaign aims to persuade drinkers into cutting back by pointing out how many bottles they take to recycling each week.
Drinking at home is on the increase, especially among people in their mid 20s to 40s. Almost one-quarter of women and more than one-third of men are drinking more than recommended.
The NHS recommends that men should not regularly drink more than three to four units of alcohol per day. For women the limit should be two to three units.
Drinkaware insists its campaign is not against drinking alcohol per se. It wants people to understand the effects alcohol can have on their health, and take time to think about how much they drink.
‘No-one has much idea how a unit of alcohol relates to the glass of wine they pour themselves or the gin and tonic or the glass of beer,’ Trust chairman Derek Lewis said.
‘A lot of couples don’t realise if they are sharing a bottle of wine between them then it takes them into the area where if they did it consistently it’s putting their health at risk.’
[PAGEBREAK]
New NHS research shows that couples are nearly twice as likely to drink alcohol every day than single people.
Nearly 20% of married couples drink five nights a week compared with just 9% for single people, according to its figures.
The Drinkaware Trust is a charity which ‘aims to change the UK’s drinking habits for the better’. It is supported by donations from across the drinks industry.
Its trustees include senior executives from organisations including pub group Mitchells and Butlers, Sainsburys, Tesco, Diageo, Oxford Brookes University and the Standing Committee of European Doctors.
www.drinkaware.co.uk
Written by Melissa Readings
