Researchers have discovered an effective way to help people drink less. It highlights the increased cancer risk associated with drinking alcohol and combines that with counting every drink.
This particular combination of “why to reduce” and “how to reduce” messages may help improve population health, researchers found in a 2021 study.
Of course, excessive drinking doesn't just cause cancer. Drinking too much alcohol is linked to a variety of problems, including premature death, heart disease, digestive problems, and an increased risk of dementia.
“We found that combining information about alcohol and cancer with the specific practical action of counting drinks resulted in drinkers drinking less.” Economist and psychologist Simone Pettigrew said: Comment from the George Institute for Global Health when the study results were released.
In this study, three surveys were completed. 7,995 people responded to the first survey, 4,588 of them responded to his second survey three weeks later, and 2,687 responded to his final survey three weeks later. Participants were divided into different groups and shown different advertisements and messages about drinking.
Compared to the control group, one combination stood out. A combination of TV ads linking alcohol to cancer and suggesting people count their drinks was one of the most effective in getting people to reduce their alcohol intake.
This combination was also the only one that actually allowed people to significantly reduce their alcohol intake over a six-week period.
Other approaches, such as encouraging people to set a number of drinks and stick to it, have been tried by some volunteers to cut back, but based on the people who took part in this study, there was a clear winner. .
“Many people don't know that alcohol is a carcinogen.” Pettigrew said. “This is important information that drinkers should have access to. But telling people that alcohol causes cancer is only part of the solution, as well as ways to take action to reduce the risk. must be provided.”
Up to 7% of premature deaths worldwide are thought to be attributable to alcohol consumption. According to the World Health Organizationand making drinkers more aware of the health risks is one way to tackle that problem.
Health officials are also considering ways to make alcohol less available and more expensive, but ultimately long-term changes in alcohol behavior will be determined by individual choices.
In this particular study, participants were chosen to be “widely representative demographically of the Australian drinking public,” so counting your own drinks is not an approach that would necessarily work elsewhere. If you want to drink it, it might be an option to try. Cut it off.
“There are limited resources available for alcohol harm reduction campaigns, so finding which messages resonate most is important to maximize impact.” Pettigrew said.
This research addictive behavior.
A previous version of this article was first published in June 2021.
