A tipple too far: the stories behind binge drinking

A £10 million campaign to tell adult drinkers exactly how much alcohol they are consuming is announced by the Government today.

The “Know Your Limits” campaign aims to reduce binge drinking among the over-25s by reminding social drinkers to stay within recommended limits.

Even those who think they consume alcohol in moderation could be putting their health at risk, the Department of Health says, because some drinks contain more than double the units of others, and glass sizes are rising. A large glass of wine or a pint of lager can contain as many as three units of alcohol, the adverts caution.

Doctors recommend that women should regularly drink no more than two to three units a day and men no more than three to four. The drinks industry has questioned the campaign’s figures, saying that the three-unit pint of lager depicted was not what most drinkers consume. A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association said that he welcomed any campaign to encourage sensible drinking but added that the recommendations should be emphasised as guidelines rather than “limits”.

The most popular brands, making up about 70 per cent of the beer market, had an average alcohol-by-volume content of 4.21 per cent — equivalent to 2.4 units in a pint, he added.

However, a pint of strong lager (ABV 5 per cent or above) is at least 2.8 units, HM Revenue & Customs figures reveal.

This year £6 million is being spent on the units campaign. It will be followed by a separate £4 million campaign by the Home Office next month, which will target binge-drinking among the under-25s.

The Department of Health added that most drinkers in England did not know how many units were in their drinks.

A YouGov poll of the 1,429 English adults found that 82 per cent claim to know what a unit of alcohol is, yet 77 per cent did not know how many units were in a typical large glass of wine.

Researchers found that 35 per cent did not know that the average pint of beer contained two units while 58 per cent did not know that a double gin and tonic contained two units. Dawn Primarolo, the Minister for Public Health, said: “Glass sizes have grown larger and the strength of many wines and beers has increased so it is no wonder some of us have lost track of our alcohol consumption.”

The YouGov survey showed that while most women (64 per cent) knew that their recommended daily guidelines were 2-3 units, just half of the men surveyed knew their equivalent guidelines were 3-4. Unit awareness also appeared to get worse with age: 32 per cent of drinkers aged 18-24 correctly said that a large glass of wine (12 per cent ABV) contains three units, compared to just 18 per cent of drinkers over 55.

The poll suggests that more than half (52 per cent) of adult drinkers in England drink alcohol at least two to three times a week, and one in ten drinks every day.

But opposition parties accused ministers of sending out mixed messages.

“They are launching an expensive advertising campaign, yet the national alcohol strategy has ground to a halt,” said Norman Lamb, MP, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesman.

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