- Public Health England is concerned too many of us aged between 45 and 65 are drinking more than the recommended level of 14 units of alcohol every week.
- This age group is urgently asked to have at least a couple of days which are ‘drink-free’.
Wide spread concern exists in the UK that people who are middle-aged (i.e. between 45 and 65) drink too much alcohol. The effect is to reduce our health and ultimately place a greater burden on the health services and reduce life quality and expectancy. Public Health England believes 63,000 people will die from alcohol-related conditions over the next five years.
To return this particular age demographic to a more a healthy level of drinking, middle-aged folk are being urged not to drink on some days of the week. The simple strategy is part of a wider health campaign. It is known that the limit of 14 units of alcohol every week is regularly broken and in some cases excessively.
Last December there was a major survey of drinking which was titled simply as Health Survey for England. It asked all those between 45 and 54 years of age, and between 55 to 64 years of age how much alcohol they consumed. It seems the younger group consumed 17 units of alcohol per week and the older group consumed 19.5 units of alcohol.
Quoting from various sources, Duncan Selbie who is chief executive at Public health England claimed
“Many of us enjoy a drink – but whether it’s a few in the pub after work a couple of times a week, some beers on the sofa watching the football or regular wine with our dinner – it’s all too easy to let our drinking creep up on us.
Setting yourself a target of having more drink-free days every week is an easy way to drink less and reduce the risks to your health.”
His further thoughts were added to by the statement:-
“Our best evidence says try to make it consecutive two days (off alcohol) if you can.
It’s not a target, it’s not to go mad on the other five days, it’s an achievable way of thinking about how to manage your levels of drink.”
The health initiative is known as the Drink Free Days campaign and aims to raise people’s awareness of health issues brough on by over drinking of alcohol. To support the initiative, there is an app that is designed to help people stick to their commitment of not drinking on particular days.
YouGov polled up to 9,000 UK adults recently and found that many would find reducing their alcohol intake more difficult than other forms of health improvement like stopping or reducing smoking, exercising and improving or at least changing diet.
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