"There’s a wide range of support available online to help people monitor their alcohol intake and to help them on their journey to a healthier relationship with alcohol."
- Dr Doug Wright, Medical Director at Aviva Health UK
Of those surveyed (2,004), 48% of adults in the UK plan to stop drinking or reduce alcohol consumption over the next twelve months. Just under one in ten (9%) say they plan to completely stop drinking alcohol altogether.
Notably, younger generations are most likely to cut down on their alcohol consumption with 61% of 18-24-year-olds planning to reduce, or completely stop drinking alcohol over the next twelve months, increasing to more than two-thirds (68%) for those aged 25-34.
Although over a third (34%) of adults who plan to reduce their alcohol consumption said that they’re making this lifestyle change to save money, health was also a key motivator. 34% said they want to be physically healthier and over a quarter (27%) said that they want to lose weight. One in five (20%) worry about the effect alcohol is having on their body whilst 19% want to improve their mental wellbeing – increasing to 27% for those aged 18-24.
In 2016, the government updated the alcohol consumption guidance to reduce the recommended maximum number of units for men from up to 21 units a week to up to 16 units, matching the recommendations for women.
However, fewer than a quarter of those who drink (21%) correctly identified these updated recommendations to help keep health risks at a lower level – reducing to 19% of men surveyed.
Discussing motivations amongst those who’ve already taken the decision to stop drinking alcohol, more than a quarter (26%) said it was to be healthier, followed by feeling happier (24%), and being healthy as they grow older (23%).
Just under one in ten (9%) say they’ve never drunk or tried alcohol and more than half of those who now don’t drink (52%) said it has been more than a year since they’d last consumed an alcoholic beverage.
“In recent years, many people have started to adopt a more responsible relationship with alcohol – with some choosing to give it up altogether. Encouragingly, Aviva’s research suggests that this positive trend is set to continue, with nearly half of the people taking part in the survey saying that they plan to either cut down or stop drinking alcohol over the next year,” explained Dr Doug Wright, Medical Director at Aviva Health UK.
“This is reassuring as reducing our alcohol intake can help improve our current & future health. The NHS recommends that we drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week regularly. This should be spread over a few days, and we should have two or three alcohol-free days, to help keep the risk to our health at a low level,” he concluded.
