What do you think of this?
Minister of State for Health Promotion, Catherine Byrne TD today launched the annual Healthy Ireland Survey, funded by the Department of Health.
The survey found that 37% of Irish people engage in binge drinking when they drink.
This damning statistic is attracting some criticism for its definition of binge drinking. The Department of Health claims that consuming three or more pints of beer in one sitting implies that you are a binge drinker.
Minister Byrne spoke about these findings, and highlighted the unhealthy relationship that Ireland has with alcohol, saying: “Successive survey findings clearly show the problems we have with alcohol and that we drink too much alcohol.
“It is absolutely critical that we change the place that alcohol has in our lives and in our society. I am therefore delighted that the Public Health Alcohol Bill has now been enacted. This ground-breaking legislation should serve to ultimately reduce the harm alcohol causes.”
The same survey found that 20% of adults in Ireland smoke, which is down 2% from last year, and that only 17% of people smoke everyday.
Interestingly, 23% of smokers said that health warnings on tobacco packaging somewhat motivated them to quit.
It also found that only 15% of people under the age of 24 drink sugar sweetened drinks daily.
You can read the survey in full here.
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