Binge Drinking
I heard a report today in which binge drinking was defined as consuming more than 4 units of alcohol in one session. What does that actually mean? This would equate to 2 pints of ordinary strength beer or lager, 4 small pub measures of spirits or around 2.5 glasses of wine. (Recommended safe limits for alcohol).
The report said that if an individual was to routinely consume this much 2 times in a fortnight then they would potentially be causing themselves harm. But there are many people who think nothing of consuming 2 pints of beer in their lunch break, or to routinely sink upwards of 4 pints of beer or cider every night in the pub, increasing this to 8 or 10 pints at weekends. Also, many people are actually drinking the high-alcohol-content beers, wines and alcopops without any real appreciation how much alcohol they are consuming and the harm that they are doing to themselves.
There are an increasing number of young people who, lacking adequate parental guidance and boundaries, start drinking at a very early age. A recent report from Derby City Hospital cited the case of a young man who died at the age of 21 from liver disease. He’d started drinking at the age of 8. If this lad had been told that if he continued to drink he wouldn’t see 22 would he have stopped? Who knows. But if this lad had been restrained by his parents from hanging out with those who were supplying him with booze he may still be alive today.
Is it really surprising that our hospitals are full of alcoholics and that kids as young as 8 (and younger) are routinely subjecting their livers and their brains to a toxic onslaught when high strength alcohol is cheaper than water or juice? And what about the example that is set by parents and those in the public eye (they call themselves celebrities)?
Kids are educated that all drugs are bad, except alcohol, which is OK because it is legal. In fact most kids don’t even think of alcohol in the same context as drugs. There’s no denying the misery and harm that involvement in drugs can cause and most youngsters grow to appreciate this fact. But the very same youngsters may think it’s nothing more than a bit of fun to drink alcopops until they can’t remember what they’ve been up to and spend the following day nursing a hangover from hell.
It’s time for a big change. It’s time that the alcohol industry took responsibility for the effects of what they produce and maybe a few more high profile celebrity deaths due to the affects of alcohol may provide a sobering influence upon our alcohol soaked younger generation.
