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Written question asked by Andrew Griffiths (Conservative) on Monday, 8 September 2014, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 11 September 2014 (named day). It was answered by Jane Ellison (Conservative) on Thursday, 11 September 2014 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of people were estimated to be binge-drinkers in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answer

Information is not available in the format requested.

Current government recommendations are that adult men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day and adult women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day.

The Office of National Statistics class heavy drinkers as those that drink more than six units in a day for women and more than eight units in a day for men (double the current lower risk guidelines) and this definition is often used as a proxy for “binge drinking”.

Information is available for the percentage of men who drank more than eight units and women who drank more than six units on at least one day in the last week prior to the interview for the General Lifestyle Survey and the General Household Survey (The Office of National Statistics).

Year

%

2006

19

2007

20

2008

18

2009

16

2010

15

Source: The Office of National Statistics (General Lifestyle Survey and the General Household Survey)

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
208551
Session
2014-15
Subjects
Alcoholic drinks Misuse
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk