Most people enjoy drinking alcohol without causing harm to themselves or others.
Harmful drinking affects an individual’s health it also affects the economy.
Hospital admissions and healthcare related to alcohol misuse costs the NHS £2-7 billion per year.
Alcohol costs businesses in the UK around £3.3 billion
Alcohol causes between 3-5% of all absences from work. Ther are about 8 to 14 million lost working days in the UK every year.
Alcohol also affects productivity and safety
Alcohol not only damages health and well being, it also affects friendships, family relationships, work and education
Weekly recommendation
Men should consume no more than 21 units per week
Women should consume no more than 14 units per week.
Daily recommendation
Men should drink no more than 4 units of alcohol in one day
Women should drink no more than 3 units in one day.
A unit = half a pint of beer, a small (125ml) glass of wine, a shot or a small (25ml) measure of spirits
Know your units
Find out how many units are contained in alcoholic drinks.
Binge drinking:
Binge drinking is drinking to excess or drinking with the intention to get drunk.
The best measure for binge drinking is:
Drinking over twice the recommended daily guidelines.
That means drinking over 8 units for men and drinking over 6 units for women in one day.
There is no safe limit of drinking alcohol as it is harmful to the body.
Whilst drunk an individual is more likely to come to harm through violence, accidents or unprotected sex
Some facts about alcohol:
- It is the most common date rape drug
- A large number of first sex and unprotected sex experiences happen when drunk which has a knock on affect of increased teenage pregnancies
- It can damage the reproductive system
- It can reduce fertility and the growing foetus
A glass of red wine is said to reduce heart disease binge drinking increases it
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