Kiwi Drinkers Consumes Large Amounts of Alcohol

1 March 2007

Report Finds One in Seven Kiwi Drinkers Consumes Large Amounts of Alcohol on a Weekly Basis

An analysis of alcohol use in New Zealand has been published by Public Health Intelligence, the Ministry of Health's epidemiology group, which finds one in seven New Zealanders (past-year drinkers) drink large amounts of alcohol each week.

Alcohol Use in New Zealand : Analysis of the 2004 Health Behaviours Survey - Alcohol Use presents data on the amount of alcohol being consumed by New Zealanders, drinking patterns and self-reported problems relating to drinking, broken down by age group and ethnicity.

Drinking large amounts of alcohol is defined as drinking more than six standard drinks for men and four standard drinks for women per drinking occasion, the upper limits defined by the World Health Organisation.

Barry Borman, Manager (Epidemiologist) of Public Health Intelligence says the report shows that the majority of New Zealanders (81.2%) had consumed alcohol at least once in the previous 12 months, but there are marked differences between genders, for both the amount consumed and the frequency of drinking sessions.

Barry Borman says, "males were significantly more likely than women to have consumed alcohol in the last 12 months. Among drinkers, men were more likely to consume alcohol four or more times a week, drink large amounts of alcohol and to drink enough to feel drunk at least weekly, compared to women."

"There are also marked differences in drinking behaviour between age groups. For drinkers aged between 18 and 24 years old, the survey showed they did not consume alcohol as frequently as people in the 55-65 year age group, however they were more likely to drink large amounts of alcohol in a typical drinking session (54.1%), than their older counterparts (6.5%)."

Dr Borman says there were also differences between Maori and non-Maori, with non-Maori drinking more frequently than Maori, but Maori drinkers consuming more alcohol during a typical drinking occasion.

"Over half of young people aged 12-17 years had consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months, with one in eight of these past-year drinkers admitting to drinking large amounts of alcohol at least once a week. About three in five drinkers aged under 18 had alcohol bought for them, mainly by parents or friends and one in seven youth drinkers had tried to buy alcohol in the previous 12 months."

Barry Borman says around 2.2% of New Zealanders aged between 12 and 65 years had ever received help to reduce their alcohol consumption, seeking help from a variety of places including drug and alcohol counsellors, detoxification programmes, Alcoholics Anonymous and General Practitioners.

"Around 1% of Kiwis had wanted to get help to reduce their alcohol consumption in their lifetime but had not received it. The survey found around 5% of New Zealanders aged 12-65 years had experienced physical assault as a result of someone else's misuse of alcohol in the previous year."

"Minimising the harm caused by alcohol and drug use to individuals and communities is a priority outlined in the New Zealand Health Strategy, launched in 2000. The Government's policy is also set out in other strategies including the inter-agency National Drug Policy and the National Alcohol Strategy", says Dr Borman.

More information on the study can be found here:

http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/alcohol-use-in-new-zealand-2004

ENDS

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