Research published by the Health Research Board (HRB)investigating alcohol consumption last year in Ireland has been welcomed today by the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland as a means to provide meaningful engagement on the issue of binge drinking.
The results published by the HRB suggest that consumption has returned to pre 1990 levels, 25% lower than in 2001. A fall in consumption by 7.6% between 2012 and 2013 was also observed.
The ABFI pointed out that these claims are also backed by consumption findings from DCU Economist Tony Foley from March 2014, sourced from the CSO Population and Migration Estimates and the Revenue Commissioners’ alcohol clearance data.
The ABFI recognised the need to develop a more refined research approach that targets those most vulnerable to harmful drinking however. The standard definition used to define binge drinking in this study (6 standard drinks or 3 pints of beer) does not help identify those at risk, according to Thomas Burke, Senior Executive at ABFI.
Burke said “binge drinking is still problematic in our society. We need to look at ways of addressing this issue in a way that affects long term societal change…As an industry, we’d call on the Government to address alcohol misuse by focusing on the sale of below cost alcohol,introducing a statutory ban on price-based advertising and introducing codes to regulate the merchandising of alcohol.”
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Charlie Burns
