Fifth of drinkers exceed alcohol limit every week, poll claims

At least seven in 10 drink some form of alcohol every day

(Getty)

A fifth of drinkers exceed the government’s weekly recommended alcohol limit every week, according to a new poll.

The UK guideline recommendation is to consume no more than 14 units over a seven-day period. This is the equivalent of five pints of beer or seven glasses of wine.

But 21 per cent of drinkers said they routinely exceeded this.

According to the poll, which was commissioned by Yorkshire Cancer Research, at least one in 10 said they drank every single day. However, at least half said they had attempted to cut down during the past five years.

The poll, which has 3,000 participants, also found six in 10 have no idea how much the recommended weekly limit is.

In fact, 14 per cent believed the limit was 21 units – seven units more than the guideline amount.

“There is no safe level of alcohol consumption when it comes to your health,” said Dr Kathryn Scott, chief executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research. “Drinking alcohol is now the leading risk factor for ill health among those aged 15 to 49 - and can cause cancer.”

She continued: “Seven different types of cancer are linked to drinking - including 8 per cent of all breast cancer cases and 6 per cent of bowel cancers.”

Even though to poll revealed that seven in 10 participants were unaware that any amount of alcohol can increase the risk of developing cancer, at least 79 per cent said they would continue to drink.

On average, drinkers in the UK consume alcohol twice a week, getting through nine units, but 42 per cent said they indulged more frequently than this.

More than half do not actually know what the recommended limit is (Getty)

However, a third admitted they would like to cut down on their drinking, partly due to concerns about the potential impact it can have on their health and wellbeing.

And around half of drinkers said they had successfully managed to abstain from booze for a month or more.

For 37 per cent, this led to a sustained reduction in the number of units consumed, but 51 per cent said they reverted back to drinking the same amount.

Despite the willingness among some to reduce their intake of alcohol, around half admitted they did not consider the long term health implications of drinking, while seven in 10 said they did not worry about the calorie count of their favourite tipples.

As a result, 66 per cent of those polled thought more needs to be done to raise awareness of the health risks associated with alcohol.

“It is more beneficial to our health to drink at a low level throughout the year,” said Dr Scott. “This is better than abstaining for one month and then go above the government recommendations the rest of the year.”

SWNS