Response to the General Lifestyle Survey 2010
Colin Shevills, Director of Balance, said: “Today’s figures show that rates of alcohol consumption between 2009 and 2010 fell faster in the North East than anywhere else in the country.
This moves our region nearer to the English average and further away from our usual role as the sick man of England when it comes to alcohol misuse.
“However, while we welcome the General Lifestyle Survey 2010 findings, we would urge caution. Our significant success relates to a single year alone. We are still drinking greater amounts and more regularly than we were in 2005 and more than twice what we were consuming in 1950. There is a long way to go if we are to truly turn back the tide of alcohol misuse in the North East.”
According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2005, 21% of North East men drank at least eight units of alcohol on one day in the last week, compared to 27% in 2009 and 21% in 2010. The corresponding English average was 18%, 20% and 19%.
When it comes to North East women, 9% drank at least six units of alcohol in 2005, increasing to 17% in 2009 before falling to 12% in 2010. The corresponding English average was 8%, 13% and 12%.
The General Lifestyle Survey 2010, published today (Thursday, March 8) by the Office for National Statistics also revealed that:
- Adults aged 45 and over were three times as likely as those aged under 45 to drink almost every day (13% compared with 4%).
- Younger adults were more likely to have drunk heavily in the previous week than older adults: 24% of men aged 16 to 24 drank more than 8 units of alcohol in a single day and 25% of men aged 25 to 44, compared with 20% of men aged 45 to 64, and only 7% of men aged 65 and over.
- Among women the estimates for drinking heavily (more than 6 units in a single day) in the corresponding age groups were 17%, 19%, 11% and 2%.
- Those in managerial and professional roles were more likely to drink (and to consume more and more frequently) than routine and manual workers.