Office of National Statistics says binge drinking in decline

Latest figures published by the Office of National Statistics indicate that number of adults exceeding the government’s sensible drinking benchmarks has declined during the last year. The drop indicates that progress is being made in the campaign to promote responsible drinking – unsurprisingly, however, the story has been largely overlooked by the sensationalist press.

The ONS stats pertain to the government advice that men should drink no more than 3-4 units and women no more than 2-3 units per day. A ‘binge drinker’, as defined by these rather strict criteria, is somebody who consumes in excess of this limit at least once a week. According to the report, the number of males exceeding the limits decreased by 4% to 35% in 2005, while females were down 2% to 20%.

The figures indicate that awareness is definitely on the rise: 69% of drinkers claimed to have heard of the daily benchmark last year, up from 54% in 1997. However, it remains questionable whether this very low limit – which many consumers do not think accurately constitutes a ‘binge’ – actually serves to confuse the message about sensible drinking behaviour.

While younger drinkers continue to elicit the most concern, the report ended with a wholly positive message. "The recent upward trend in heavy drinking among young women may have peaked. The proportion of 16-24 year old women who had drunk more than six units on at least one day in the previous week increased from 24% to 28% between 1998 and 2002, but has since fallen to 22% in 2005."

© db 29th November 2006