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Media and publishing staff are worst binge-drinkers

By Tom Peck

People working in media, publishing and entertainment sectors consume an average of 44 units a week, almost twice the recommended maximum amount.

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People working in media, publishing and entertainment sectors consume an average of 44 units a week, almost twice the recommended maximum amount.

People working in media, publishing and entertainment sectors are the heaviest drinkers, according to the Department of Health. They consume an average of 44 units a week, almost twice the recommended maximum amount of three-to-four units a day for men, and two-to-three for women.

IT support workers drink an average of 34 units a week. Almost one-third (29 per cent) of IT workers said they felt their colleagues pressured them to drink. Reassuringly, drivers and – perhaps surprisingly – teachers are the professionals most likely to monitor their alcohol intake and are England's most moderate drinkers, consuming an average of 24 units per week.

The finance, insurance and real estate sectors came second in temperance terms, at 29 units per week, perhaps indicative of the champagne having ceased to flow in these industries over the last 12 months.

No figure was given for MPs but the Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo, did say: "After-work drinks are often part of working life. It's tempting to just go for 'a swift one', even when you know your body needs a rest. But, one can quickly turn into many."

The research, conducted by YouGov, on behalf of the Department of Health, questioned 1,400 people.

Just last week the Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp banned his players from drinking alcohol after the club captain Ledley King was arrested outside a London nightclub over an alleged assault.

Earlier this year, doctors demanded better labelling for alcoholic drinks to help people keep track of their consumption, as figures from the National Office of Statistics showed that binge-drinking had become most prevalent among the better-off, wine-loving middle classes.

Figures released by the Department of Health in February showed the number of liver transplants as a result of alcohol abuse had risen by 61 per cent since 1994.

There is some hope though that the message is getting through. Sales of non and low-alcohol beers rose by 10 per cent last year, although they still account for only 3 per cent of the total £2bn beer sales market. Sales of ordinary beer dropped 5 per cent.

Chris Sorek, chief executive of the charity The Drinkaware Trust, recommended having two alcohol-free days a week and doing regular exercise to reduce the "combat stress" of office life.

Job by job: The alcohol league

*Media, Publishing and Entertainment sectors 44 units per week

*IT workers 34 units per work

*Service sector workers and retail 33 units per week

*Finance, insurance and real estate 29 units

*Education and transport workers 24 units

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Comments

moderation mate, drink with moderation
[info]tuskerdeman wrote:
Monday, 25 May 2009 at 01:03 pm (UTC)
Don't drink alcohol every day. Allow your body and embarrassment to recover. And be moderate too.

Even now this smokescreen issue hides even more serious and devious practices within Westminster. Theses issues of public concern promoting furore, debate and distraction hides what is truly happening, by quietly invoking into law, further "legal" abuses to our personal private data whilst our backs are turned.

Big issue, very important, read here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/24/jacqui-smith-dna-profile-database

Beyond financial charades, corporate abuses, ministers expenses and many other issues that have become public knowledge in recent times, "the people" are denied proper and open debate on our basic freedoms.

We must stop this.

The Executive Branch of Westminster must warrant the closest scrutiny and investigation on all of the events of recent times immediately.

Write to your MPs, form action groups, contact anyone that may assist in putting a stop to this crime against the people.
Self-Loathing Needs an Escape Valve
[info]errol888flynn wrote:
Monday, 25 May 2009 at 04:15 pm (UTC)
Most Journalists working in the UK these days are little more than Whores who are forced by the real-politik of the existing system to act as mouthpieces for the crooks and villains that presently run at least two of our main political parties, the senior Judiciary, our banking system, and several of our most cherished institutions, such as might be found under the headings, 'key universities' and the 'Arts.'

Our system is riddled from top to bottom with zionists (with a small 'zee'). Until they are all publicly identified, removed from office, and stripped of their Knighthoods and ill-gotten gains (e.g., Lord Cashpoint Levy) we will never get back to being a free people at peace with each other.

These British Isles are the home of the Anglo-Saxon people, and their Celtic, Viking, and Pict cousins. We are not the new Jerusalem nor the new Israel, and have never asked to be. Most British people would be utterly astonished and very angry if they ever understood the extent to which we have been captured by an alien belief system, and their slimy agents in our Establishment.
Re: Self-Loathing Needs an Escape Valve
[info]almightymat wrote:
Tuesday, 26 May 2009 at 08:43 am (UTC)
Dear Errol,

what does all that Nazi-sounding nonsense have to do with a health and lifestyle story on how much people in different industries drink per week?

Yours confusedly,

Mat
Re: Self-Loathing Needs an Escape Valve (Alcoholism)
[info]errol888flynn wrote:
Wednesday, 27 May 2009 at 07:13 am (UTC)
My comment was in response to the headline: "Media and publishing staff are worst binge-drinkers" and not to any comparison between different "industries" as you put it. By implication, I was saying that media and publishing staff are DRIVEN to drink by the unique political & corrupt circumstances in which they must work. Remember, many if not most are 'forced' by circumstance to act as propaganda tools, and that very self-realization eventually eats into their souls, driving many to drink and/or mental instability.

My comment was drafted in the hope it would encourage more readers (i.e., more of us) to think deeply. With all due respect, it would appear you are not yet prepared to do this, hence your tiresome use of the word Nazi in your response.

I don't suppose you know this ... as the average Brit is almost as ignorant of reality as the average American ... but the word "Nazi" comes from the Hebrew word for German. And if it isn't the Hebrew word, then it will be the Yiddish word for German.

This is why Jews in the vast Germanic territories stretching from the Rhine to the Ukraine were (and still are) collectively called AshkeNAZIs.

Instead of wasting your time criticizing other posters through emotional comments, why don't you dedicate more of your energies to learning facts and truth? My God, you belong to a generation whose access to uncensored information is unprecedented!! Too busy watching brain-numbing rubbish on television are we? The day you can come back and present facts and data in a cogent manner is the day I shall start respecting you.

Until then, I am obliged to pity you because your mind is currently not your own ... it is their's (i.e., those who wish to control you with their disinformations).

You will only end your confusions by your own efforts.

Yours hopefully,

Errol.
Re: Self-Loathing Needs an Escape Valve (Alcoholism)
[info]almightymat wrote:
Wednesday, 27 May 2009 at 08:28 am (UTC)
Heh, Errol, you're one of those crazy obsessive internet types, eh?

So, you're saying that you posted a rambling little diatribe WITHOUT even reading what the article was about, but just started frothing at the mouth when you saw the headline?

jolly good show!
Re: Self-Loathing Needs an Escape Valve (Alcoholism)
[info]errol888flynn wrote:
Wednesday, 27 May 2009 at 09:15 am (UTC)
Cor blimey! The number of hysterical nutters you can meet here at the Independent, any day of the week, is truly astounding.

Mmmmm ... and talk about frothing at the mouth; it's been a while since I last drank a pint of Draught Guinness. Thanks for reminding me, the 'Gawd Almighty One.'
You mean that drunken teenager is a reporter?
[info]rosiembanks wrote:
Monday, 25 May 2009 at 05:58 pm (UTC)
This story gives the impression that the worst drunks are people who work in the media. We are not told, however, whether this study included people who have no jobs at all. If not, then it is saying only that media people is the occupation with the biggest drinkers.

I would be surprised to find that reporters and photographers are more inclined to drink themselves into a state of illness or violence than the kids living with mum and dad or the adult unemployed living on the benefits we pay for.
[info]global_changes wrote:
Tuesday, 26 May 2009 at 11:44 am (UTC)
i think most 9-5 mon- fri jobs will have a high rate, not for those who work weekends though.
Good
[info]kuma2000 wrote:
Tuesday, 26 May 2009 at 05:50 pm (UTC)
Glad to see people are saying no to drugs and yes to getting totally hammered every night.
[info]adammademedoit wrote:
Wednesday, 27 May 2009 at 10:56 am (UTC)
ahh maybe that does explain the lack of clarity, balance and depth to many many media reports ! ? No, I didn't say "here's the claret", journo, that's LACK ..OF ... CLARITY! Anyway, time for breakfast - now is it to be a Bloody Mary or a Bling-Bling ?


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