Home drinkers twice pub drinkers
According to Drinkaware, 63% of people using the Calculator said that they drink alcohol at home, with wine being the most common type of alcohol consumed there.
Over 30,000 people have used the online Drinks Calculator since it went live in November 2016.
The tool empowers individuals to assess their drinking habits and make informed choices to improve their health and wellbeing.
According to Drinkaware these findings are in line with recent international research showing that 85% of people in Ireland drink alcohol at home (“pre-drink”) before a night out.
Key insights from the Calculator results from the past month show:
- of those drinking at home almost 40% drink wine
- 36% drink in the pub
- 6 in 10 people who use the calculator are women
- one quarter of people who drink at home, drink spirits
- 1 in 6 people drink beer in a pub setting
- At home, women are drinking four times more wine than men.
“These insights reflect what we already know, that drinking habits in Ireland have shifted in the past two decades,” stated Dr Liam Twomey, Chief Medical Officer at Drinkaware, of the findings, “The reality is if you’re drinking alcohol at home it’s much harder to keep track of how much you drink and this can often lead to people exceeding the low-risk guidelines in a short space of time.
“One of the most common questions we’re asked is around wine, where there are a range of different factors at play which makes it difficult to understand your true alcohol intake – the size of the glass, alcohol content, the setting.
“Consider this – drinking one bottle of wine every week for a month is roughly the calorie equivalent of eating over 10 cheeseburgers. This is what we need to be mindful of when drinking at home and our new Standard Drink Measure Cup will help people in these situations to know and accurately keep track.
“I see it in my own general practice; people are often not aware of how much they’re drinking regardless of the setting, but this is particularly the case if alcohol is consumed at home. Simple tools like our Drinks Calculator make it easier for people to understand their drinking habits and provides an accessible way to proactively manage their own drinking.”
The Drinks Calculator results are shown in standard drinks, calories and cost. Users are also provided with the length of time it will take for the alcohol to completely leave their system. The body can process approximately one standard drink in one hour, which is crucial information for considering when it is safe to drive the following day.
“Recent research from Drinkaware highlighted a clear need for more practical support and information in relation to alcohol and health,” he concluded, “The findings showed that the more people know about the impact drinking to excess can have on health and wellbeing, the more likely they are to proactively make positive changes to their drinking habits. Far from expecting people to consume excessive amounts of alcohol, particularly over holiday periods like Easter, we need to remove the barriers to people understanding the effects their drinking habits may be having on their health. Making small changes to how we consume alcohol can make a real difference in the short- and long-term.”
In the past month, for example, of the 6,000 who used the Drinks Calculator, 40% of those drinking at home drank wine, 25% drank spirits and 36% also drank in the pub.
