Aussie drink-driving laws have similar penalties, but our BAC level is still at .05. This will be moved to .02 in the coming years. Be safe for you, your family and the person you may injure because, you thought you were ‘ok to drive!’
SHOULD YOU BE DRIVING? DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE....EVER!
Baby Boomers are drinking more than any other generation of Australians, according to data from an organisation helping people who want to change their relationship with alcohol.
A survey on behalf of Hello Sunday Morning (HSM) asked more than 1250 Australians about their drinking habits in September, and found people aged 65-74 were drinking more than double the amount younger Australians were.
Gen Zers had the lowest weekly alcohol consumption of all, while Millennials were less likely to drink every day than people aged over 55, who were eight times more likely.
Hello Sunday Morning CEO Andy Moore said the survey showed the importance of alcohol support networks, like the organisation’s Daybreak app.
“Our app offers support from an online community of all ages and genders, and with nearly 60,000 Australians having used the free app-based program since 2016, it is accessible to anyone with a smartphone and available wherever and whenever someone wishes to seek help,” Mr Moore said.
The survey also confirmed what a lot of people think and what previous research has also demonstrated – men are bigger drinkers and are more stupid about it too.
One in five men aged between 65-74 reported consuming more than an average of 31.5 standard drinks in a 7-day period, placing them in what HSM calls the “very high risk” category.
When women in the same age category are factored in, the percentage in the very high risk category drops to 15 per cent, but that’s still almost double the average across all age groups (8 per cent, the same percentage as people who drink every day).
45 per cent of men also thought you would still be fine to drive if you only drank one standard drink an hour, which HSM called a “dangerous misconception”.
WHY THE BOYS CAN’T STAY OFF THE BEERS
Men are more likely to drink to distract themselves from their problems.
More concerning than how much more men were drinking was why they were doing it. Almost half (44 per cent) of very high risk male drinkers reported they felt depressed. Men are also way less likely to do anything about that. 31 per cent of very high risk male drinkers also said they found it hard to talk to a GP, let alone a therapist.
Younger people reported drinking less — and even younger people could have an impact on some people’s drinking. One in four parents with kids at home reported feeling guilty about their drinking.
Movendi International statement in reaction to latest findings of the Global Burden of Disease study 2019
The Global Burden of Disease study for 2019 led by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation and published in The Lancet has found that failure in tackling preventable non-communicable diseases has made the world more vulnerable to COVID-19. The study also highlights worrying data about alcohol’s contribution to the global burden of disease.
While global healthy life expectancy – the number of years a person can expect to have good health – has increased between 1990 and 2019, it has not risen as much as overall life expectancy in 198 of the 204 countries assessed. This indicates that people are living more years in poor health.
Disability, rather than early death, has become an increasingly large share of the global disease burden – rising from around a fifth (21%) of total burden in 1990 to more than a third (34%) in 2019.
Over the past decade, large and worrying increases have been noted in exposure to several highly preventable risks including alcohol use, other drug use, obesity and high blood sugar. These risks contribute heavily to the growing NCD burden in the world.
Alcohol remains one of the leading risk factors contributing to the global burden of disease.
Alcohol is the eighth leading preventable risk factor for disease.
The contribution of alcohol to the global disease burden has been increasing year by year from 2.6% of DALYs* in 1990 to 3.7% of DALYs in 2019.
In high income countries alcohol use is the second fasted growing risk factor and in LMICs it is the fourth fastest rising risk factor.
Alcohol is the second largest risk factor for disease burden in the age group 10-24 years.
Alcohol is the largest risk factor for disease burden in the group 25-49 years.
We might not be drinking more overall during the pandemic, but there’s one group of Australians whose habits are deeply concerning: Women.
Already, women have been closing the consumption gap between the genders – men traditionally being the bigger drinkers.
The effects of the global pandemic – job losses and insecurity, home schooling and all the stress that comes with a life-altering event – have manifested in higher alcohol consumption rates among women.
Nicole Lee is Adjunct Professor at the National Drug Research Institute, and said while overall, the alcohol habits of Australians have remained fairly steady, it was a completely different story for women.
Women’s drinking has increased substantially, Dr Lee told The New Daily.
“There’s a number of studies that have linked that to additional home duties – trying to juggle working from home with homeschooling, and typically those kinds of activities fall to women in the family and now there’s extra pressure,” Dr Lee said.
“It does look like women are much more affected, and then also their mental health is being affected by that as well.”
Lifelines kept 1.5 metres away
A similar trend was noted by a team from La Trobe University, in a paper published on Tuesday.
Its authors noted: “In the context of COVID-19, large proportions of the population have been required to work from home and supervise their child/ren’s remote learning.
“Recent polls suggest increased psychological distress among parents, particularly mothers, who are more likely to bear the burden of multiple roles as workers, parents and teacher’s aides – which may translate to increases in consumption.”
The report also highlighted an Australian study from the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, where it found men were more likely to turn to the bottle to cope with stress – perhaps related to job loss or financial strain.
Women, however, went to relationships with friends and family to get them through it.
The pandemic and social distancing has made those relationships ever more difficult to maintain.
Evidence on alcohol consumption as a risk factor for dementia usually relates to overall consumption. The role of alcohol-induced loss of consciousness is uncertain.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the risk of future dementia associated with overall alcohol consumption and alcohol-induced loss of consciousness in a population of current drinkers.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings of this study suggest that alcohol-induced loss of consciousness, irrespective of overall alcohol consumption, is associated with a subsequent increase in the risk of dementia.
About half (51 per cent) reported that there has been an increase in the involvement of alcohol in family violence situations since the COVID-19 restrictions were introduced, while 40 per cent said alcohol’s involvement had not changed and none of the respondents reported decreased involvement.
Current issues with alcohol use and family violence identified included: » increased alcohol use because of changed circumstances » alcohol use increasing verbal and physical abuse » alcohol adding to financial strain on the family.
