A comparison of drinking guidelines around the world shows there is little consensus between countries on what constitutes ‘safe’ or lower risk alcohol consumption. In this guest post, Dr Richard de Visser, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Sussex explores the study conducted with Doctoral student Ms Nina Furtwængler. It was published this month in Drug and Alcohol Review.
The study examined government alcohol consumption guidelines in 57 countries, including all 27 European Member States, and found a remarkable lack of agreement about what constitutes harmful or excessive alcohol consumption on a daily basis or weekly basis.
Key findings were:
- Muslim countries and eight of the 27 EU member States (including Cyprus, Greece and Hungary) do not have readily accessible guidelines. Some countries refer to standard drinks, but do not define them in grams of ethanol (e.g., Kenya, Malta)
- Some countries do not define standard drinks, but offer general guidance encouraging moderate alcohol consumption and/or abstinence in certain circumstances (e.g., Belgium, India, Norway, Western Samoa)
- The alcohol content of a “unit” or “standard drink” ranges from 8g in the UK to 14g in Slovakia and the USA.
- In some countries the weekly maximum is simply seven times the daily maximum, whereas in others there is an explicit statement that drinkers should have at least one alcohol-free day a week
- There is no consensus as to whether it is safe for women to drinking as much as men
Additional analysis of drink-driving legislation found surprisingly wide variation in legal blood and when driving:
- Of the 145 countries for which limits are available, 21 (14%) allow no alcohol in the blood of drivers
- Among the 124 countries that allow drivers to have alcohol in their blood, there was a ten-fold variation between the least and most generous .
Specific guidelines are likely to be more useful for individuals and health professionals than vague advice to “drink moderately”. However, it is important to note that people who possess knowledge of unit-based guidelines do not necessarily know how to use them or feel motivated to apply them.
Despite these caveats, it is important for people who do want to adhere to recommendations to drink responsibly that there are internationally agreed standard definitions of alcohol units and consumption guidelines. Agreed international guidelines would make it easier for people living in a globalised world to develop and use transferable skills for monitoring and regulating their alcohol consumption.
In England the Government is currently reviewing the drinking guidelines for the first time in 15 years. The Government's response follows the recent House of Commons' Science and Technology Committee (STC) report, which declared the existing guidelines as "confusing" and called for further clarity.
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