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Fitness & Health

26th Apr 2017

PICS: Standard drink measure cup introduced in Ireland to encourage responsible drinking at home

Conor Heneghan

drink measure cup

Fewer than one in 10 people can correctly identify the number of standard drinks in different measures of alcohol.

Drinkaware have introduced a standard drink measure cup in Ireland in an attempt to encourage responsible drinking at home ahead of the May Bank Holiday weekend.

The introduction of the drink measure cup is part of a Drinkaware campaign calling on people to carefully monitor their alcohol consumption this weekend following on from some worrying findings in a Behaviour and Attitudes study of Irish attitudes towards alcohol.

The study revealed, for example, that one in two people believe that drinking to excess is ‘no big deal’, 73% of Irish people believe that drinking to excess is just a part of Irish culture and that 27% of Irish people believe that drink driving is ‘less of an issue’ in recent years.

Furthermore, the introduction of the standard measure cup comes on the back of a 2012 study by the Health Research Board, which found that fewer than one in 10 people can correctly identify the number of standard drinks in different measures of alcohol.

The cup enables those drinking at home to accurately measure spirits, wine and beer in line with standard drinks measures. Common examples of standard drinks measures are a glass of beer, a pub measure of spirits and a small (100ml) glass of wine; all based on average strength drinks.

The cup is intended to help people make healthier lifestyle choices around alcohol consumption and drink within the HSE guidelines, which are 11 standard drinks (110g pure alcohol) spread out over the week for women and 17 standard drinks (170g pure alcohol) for men.

Drinking above these guidelines and in particular, binge drinking (consuming six or more standard drinks in one sitting), further increases the risks already associated with alcohol.

Ahead of the May Bank Holiday, meanwhile, Drinkaware advised of some simple changes people can use to reduce their alcohol consumption:

  • Alternate each drink with a glass of water to reduce the dehydration associated with alcohol
  • Always use a standard drink measure: never free-pour spirits
  • Never top up your wine glass – always finish one glass before refilling
  • Downsize your drink by choosing lower alcohol beer and wine
  • Avoid rounds – you may end up drinking more than you intended

For more information, check out Drinkaware.ie.

Topics:

Alcohol,Health