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09/01/2012
Drinking Report Finds Recommendations Need Changed
A parliamentary committee has found that the current advice on drinking alcohol needs to be changed.
The report from the Science and Technology Committee into the UK's alcohol guidelines said the current Government recommendations did not marry up with the latest health advice and gave the wrong impression on how regularly alcohol should be consumed.
According to the report, current guidelines have a daily recommended intake level, which is misleading to the public.
The report said: "What matters most is that the message should not be that you should drink two to three units a day. Somehow, we have to get the message over that you do not have to drink at all, and that you certainly should not drink at all on a couple of days a week."
Existing guidelines suggest that 48-hours should elapse after a heavy session to allow tissues to repair. However, the committee felt that this could give the impression that drinking to the recommended levels on a daily basis provided no health risk.
The report also found there was a lack of consensus amongst experts over the health benefits of alcohol, although it was not clear from current evidence how the benefits of drinking alcohol at low quantities compare to those of lifelong abstention.
A survey by the committee also showed that of the 90% of drinkers in the survey group who had heard of units, only 13% kept a check on the units they drank on a daily, weekly or other basis.
(DW)
The report from the Science and Technology Committee into the UK's alcohol guidelines said the current Government recommendations did not marry up with the latest health advice and gave the wrong impression on how regularly alcohol should be consumed.
According to the report, current guidelines have a daily recommended intake level, which is misleading to the public.
The report said: "What matters most is that the message should not be that you should drink two to three units a day. Somehow, we have to get the message over that you do not have to drink at all, and that you certainly should not drink at all on a couple of days a week."
Existing guidelines suggest that 48-hours should elapse after a heavy session to allow tissues to repair. However, the committee felt that this could give the impression that drinking to the recommended levels on a daily basis provided no health risk.
The report also found there was a lack of consensus amongst experts over the health benefits of alcohol, although it was not clear from current evidence how the benefits of drinking alcohol at low quantities compare to those of lifelong abstention.
A survey by the committee also showed that of the 90% of drinkers in the survey group who had heard of units, only 13% kept a check on the units they drank on a daily, weekly or other basis.
(DW)
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