Alcohol Awareness Week
Do you know the facts and figures lurking in the reality of excessive alcohol consumption?
Having a couple of alcoholic drinks is non-negotiable for lots of us, but there are ways in which this can be balanced to be part of a healthy lifestyle.
Do you know the recommended limit for alcohol consumption?
14 units per week for both men and women, to be spread evenly throughout the week with at least 2 consecutive alcohol-free days.
We have an infographic below that illustrates what 1 unit of alcohol is:
Perhaps you find this national recommendation surprising? If so, the below facts and figures will probably be astonishing.
Facts and figures:
- More than 24% people in England and Scotland drink in excess of the weekly recommended limit, with 27% of those binge drinking on their heaviest consumption days (over 8 units for men and over 6 units for women)
- In the UK in 2017, 12.2 per 100,000 were alcohol-specific deaths
- Alcohol misuse is the biggest risk factor for death, ill-health and disability among 15-49 year olds in the UK
- In 2017, there were 589,101 dependent drinkers in England, of whom 81.7% were not accessing treatment
- Alcohol consumption is a causal factor of more than 60 medical conditions. Conditions include mouth, throat, stomach, liver and breast cancer, high blood pressure, cirrhosis of the liver and depression
- Over the past 10 years, deaths caused by liver disease has increased by 20%
- The effects of alcohol costs the NHS £3.5bn per year, the equivalent to every UK tax payer contributing £120
- Hospital admissions due to alcoholic liver disease in England have increased by 43% in the last 10 years
- In England in 2017/18, there were an estimated 1.2 million hospital admissions related to alcohol consumption (7.2% of all hospital admissions)
