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| health information | health news

Think before you drink

17 December 2007

Far more people may have been drinking at hazardous and harmful levels than previously thought.

Frank Soodeen, Alcohol Concern

Key facts

The strength of an alcoholic drink is measured by alcohol by volume (AVB), which is the percentage (%) of the drink that is made up by pure alcohol.
Current UK guidelines recommend that men don't drink more than three or four units of alcohol a day, and that women limit their intake to two or three units a day.
Currently, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimate how much we drink from three household surveys: the General House hold Survey (GHS), the Health Survey for England (HSE) and the ONS Omnibus Survey.

Household surveys are underestimating the amount of alcohol we consume in the UK, according to a report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Surveys of alcohol consumption started in the 1970s. However, since this time some drinks have increased in alcohol content and are being sold in larger glasses. So the ONS believes we are now drinking more alcohol than previous surveys suggest.

Wine consumption in particular has been underestimated by surveys, which assumed that wines had an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 9 percent. Nowadays, many table wines are 11.5 to 13.5 percent ABV and more people are drinking larger glasses of wine than the traditional 125ml.

To bring the survey methods in line with these changes, the ONS has doubled the amount of alcohol it presumes to be in a standard glass of wine (from one unit to two). It has also increased the amount it presumes to be in strong beers, lagers or ciders (over 6 percent ABV) from 1.5 units to two units.

Results from the 2005 survey results showed the average weekly consumption of alcohol in the UK to be 10.8 units. Applying the new survey methods raised this estimate to 14.3 units.

Using the new methods, the estimated proportion of men drinking more than 21 units per week has risen from 24 percent to 31 percent. The number of women drinking over the recommended 14 units per week rises from 13 percent to 21 percent.

Women tend to drink more wine than men do, and the ONS report has highlighted that women may be more at risk of alcohol-related problems than previous estimates showed.

Frank Soodeen, spokesperson for Alcohol Concern, told the health information team: "The new ONS figures suggest that far more people have been drinking at hazardous and harmful levels than was previously thought. It's vital that we reinforce the sensible drinking message to prevent as many people as possible form experiencing completely preventable alcohol-related harms."

The first new results of alcohol consumption using the updated survey methods will be published in January.