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The More Successful You Are, the More You Drink, Research Finds |
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
Chief executives of big companies and public sector organisations are coping with their stressful positions by drinking the equivalent of almost three bottles of wine a week, new research shows.
Men holding the highest positions drink an average of almost 23 units a week—more than 11 medium (175ml) glasses of wine.
Their consumption exceeds the total recommended weekly limit for alcohol of 21 units and suggests many businessmen and managers may suffer ill health as a result.
Doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professional men are also knocking back above average amounts of alcohol—20 units a week—according to figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) released yesterday.
Overall, they show that across all social classes about 10 million people are drinking more than the recommended weekly maximum of 21 units for a man and 14 for a woman.
Men are likely to drink twice as much as women. The ONS said it had previously underestimated the amount people were drinking and the real amount was 32 percent higher. Men were drinking 18.7 units a week and a women nine units, compared with previous estimates of 14.8 and 6.2.
Previous studies have pointed to waning total alcohol consumption, but the researchers became concerned that they had not taken into account the trend for stronger beer and the serving of wine in larger glasses.
People may also be under-reporting or under-estimating consumption. The Government advises women to drink no more than two units a day and men three units a day. Four in 10 men and a third of women exceeded the limits at least once a week.
The English drink more than the Scots or Welsh, according to the two ONS reports, Smoking and Drinking Among Adults 2006 and Drinking: Adults Behaviour and Knowledge 2007. Almost a quarter of Britain's 42 million adults exceed the weekly limits. About 60 percent of the population, 25 million adults, are low or moderate drinkers.
Almost 6 million people drink no alcohol and their inclusion in the drinking averages means that those who do drink alcohol drink even more than the figures suggest.
Eileen Goddard, the principal researcher, said that although statistics from the alcohol industry based on Customs data indicated that overall alcohol consumption had fallen by 5 percent between 2004 and 2006, it was possible that the total had actually gone up
Frank Soodeen, of Alcohol Concern, said: "Over the last 20 years middle-class families particularly have moved alcohol from the fringe of their lives to the centre."
Jeremy Beadles, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said he detected evidence that people were drinking more responsibly. "The message of responsible drinking is continuing to get out as the long-term trends continue to improve. It is also clear that the vast majority of people drink sensibly."
(C) 2008 The Independent - London. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved |
