14 DAY TRIAL // Enjoying a glass of wine every now and then at the end of a hard day’s work can be just what the doctor ordered but, in the case of many women, they may have taken this a little too far. A new study into the drinking habits of British women has provided evidence that binge drinking and increased alcohol consumption have doubled in eight years, which has raised health concerns with specialists, the Daily Mail informs.
Over three and a half million women in the UK alone drink more than the recommended dose on a constant basis, and are putting their health at risk, researchers have warned. What’s even worse, they are not even aware of the situation, believing their alcohol intake to be just under the recommended limit, they have also pointed out. This is a direct consequence of their financial independence and greater spending power, as well as of the “ladette” culture that glamorizes drinking.
“Women drink more wine than men and wine has been getting cheaper, wine strength has increased and wine glasses have been getting larger, disproportionately affecting women’s drinking more than men. Women are more likely to be home drinkers and, as home drinking is increasing, we would expect women’s drinking to increase relative to men’s.” researchers point out in the study. At the same time, the fact that more and more bars and pubs keep their doors open around the clock is also believed to encourage increased alcohol consumption, while also leading to an escalating crime wave, the aforementioned publication points out.
“Women who are unmarried, separated or divorced are more likely to drink in excess of recommended limits than women who are married or cohabiting. We have images of all female groups out drinking heavily for fun, but, on the other had, we have images of women having a drink at home after a hard day at work or looking after the children. Both types of explanation may well be relevant.” researchers further point out in the same study.
However, it’s not only women who have doubled their alcohol intake over such a short period of time. Because prices for alcoholic drinks have dropped by almost 30 percent, while the glasses themselves have become larger, pensioners are also among the categories that are now drinking more than before. Unfortunately, so are children 10 to 13, a segment that is also experiencing a spike, presumably because their parents are also drinking more, while they’re also more financially independent, having more pocket money than kids of yore used to get.