A recent study, by The Scripps Research Institute in California, proved that drinking small amounts of alcohol regularly is healthier than drinking just one several occasions throughout the week. The study, tested on rats, found that by drinking occasionally throughout the week, more alcohol was actually consumed and brain functioning was decreased substantially, similar to those of alcoholics even after only a few months. The impairment to the brain cells was also linked to the cause of the excess alcohol consumption. These cells are responsible for the emotional and impulsive behaviour that occurs after the consumption of alcohol, however between periods of drinking, they were found to be irregularly active, and the more active they are, the more alcohol will be consumed the next period of drinking.
Professor Dame Sally Davies, spoke out recently saying, “We need a cultural change. Part of it is culture and part of it is price and we need to do both.”
She also found that young girls are now drinking as much alcohol as men, even though the recommended daily amount for females is 2-3 units, compared to 3-4 for men, significantly lower than men’s, due to their inability to tolerate as much alcohol.
This is supported by another recent study which looked into young people and the price of alcohol, with one group of youngsters stating that three litres of cider is cheaper than admission to the cinema. The report, ‘Binge - Drinking to get drunk: Influences on young adult drinking behaviours’ found that compared to 1980, alcohol is 44% more affordable, and was published by Alcohol Concern, a charity dedicated to raising alcohol awareness, as well as Balance, a North East Alcohol Office.
Linking back to the UK’s Chief Medical Officer’s report, deaths from liver disease in England have risen by a fifth between 2000 and 2009, with between 600 and 700 liver transplants now performed per year, the problem is dramatically growing within the UK, faster than most, if not all, of European countries. And the question is now, what can we do about it?
Several organisations have suggestions as to how to combat binge drinking in the UK. Prime Minister David Cameron spoke out earlier this year, declaring binge drinking a “scandal” which costs the NHS £2.7bn a year and proposed a minimum price for alcohol, as well as creating drunk tanks and booze buses. The charity, Alcohol Concern, is also in favour of a minimum price suggesting 50p per unit which would make a pint of beer at least £1.25 and a bottle of wine £5. This is intended to hit cheaper supermarkets a lot harder than pubs, where cider can be bought for as cheap as 13p per unit.
However, a student of University of Lincoln, Gemma Fox, doesn’t agree with the plans. She commented on the proposed plan saying, “I don’t think the price of alcohol should be increased. Students have a hard enough time trying to afford food and have a good time. I always make sure that I don’t go over my limit and I don’t see why other people’s mistakes should cost me more money”.
A launch from one of the largest supermarkets, Sainsbury’s, went against this advice earlier in 2012, by reducing the price of some of their alcohol to persuade customers to drink lower percentages of alcohol or smaller measures. Some light wines and mixer cans of spirit were reduced by at least 25%, with bottles of beer being reduced by at least 8%. The launch by Sainsbury’s was in force with Diageo, Heineken and Drinkaware in an attempt to encourage sensible drinking.
The British Medical Society, however, has a different plan. Following the recent reductions to salt and fat in food products, they want to see the same in alcohol, therefore a premium lager would be reduced from 5.5% to 5%, and a bitter from 4.5% to 4%.
Evidence from America has also suggested that perhaps raising the legal drinking age to 21 years of age would be a solution, however, even though Alcohol Concern agrees, they say it would be “politically impossible”.
Other suggestions include only allowing certain off-licenses to sell alcohol, which is evident in countries such as Sweden, Canada and the US, as well as discouraging rounds, banning alcohol marketing and advertising and parents not drinking in front of children in the home.
