Eight out of 10 do not know alcohol guideline

The survey, by the Health Improvement Commission, attracted almost 400 responses.

It showed that 91% of people knew there was a drinking guideline, but 86% did not know what it was.

Just over three-quarters were unaware that the recommendations were the same for men and women.

To keep health risks from alcohol low, it is advised that both men and women should not drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis and to spread the units out evenly over three or more days. The survey found that 24% of people in the Bailiwick exceeded this.

The HIC, in partnership with Healthier Scotland, has launched a new campaign, Count 14, to raise awareness of the recommended drinking guidelines.

‘The campaign has been building momentum in Scotland since the NHS launched it in 2019 and we want to emulate its success in Guernsey,’ said HIC substance use lead Andrea Nightingale.

‘The results of the survey show that there’s a need to help islanders understand the low risk drinking guidelines and we want to encourage islanders to be mindful of the health implications caused by drinking too much alcohol.

‘It’s about giving people the information, knowledge and skills to manage their alcohol consumption in a healthy way.’

An important part of the campaign is to help people understand what 14 units looks like.

Count 14 offered resources to make it easier to count units and remember the guidelines including unit calculator dials and plastic drinking cups with unit measures on. There are also ‘6,6,7’ posters, which represents the number of medium glasses of wine, beers/lagers/ciders and double measure spirits (respectively) that add up to 14 units.

‘Agreeing with the survey findings, our challenge in Market Square last month, where we asked islanders to arrange what they thought 14 units of alcohol looked like using representative cups and glasses, showed that many people were unsure and, when they guessed, they often went over the 14 units,’ said Mrs Nightingale’.

‘It’s not enough to simply tell someone the recommended weekly unit guideline, we have to ensure that people have the tools to understand what that figure looks like too. Once islanders know the 14-unit recommendation, we want them to be able to accurately count the units they drink and recognise when they’re exceeding it.’

. Further information about Count 14 can be found at https://healthimprovement.gg/services/substance-use.