No Binge Drinking for the Ladies Too

Christmas and the New Year are here again! Time to laugh and to celebrate; and it's also a time to care and to share.

We have talked to you guys about drinking alcohol sensibly and saying no to binge drinking before. At this festive time, we would like you guys, apart from adopting a responsible attitude towards drinking alcohol, to take care of the ladies around you too. 

Although figures from the Population Health Survey conducted by the Department of Health in 2003-2004 showed that males were more likely to binge drink, i.e. drinking 5 glasses or more alcoholic drinks in a row, the Survey also found that almost 8% of the lady drinkers had engaged in binge drinking.

Data from the Cross Centre of the Tung Wah Group of Hospital showed that binge drinking among female drinkers has been on the rise in the recent years. Among those who had sought help from the Centre, 18% were female drinkers. Some of them had the false belief that drinking could help them relax and deal with stress. Quite of a few of them would get emotionally out of control because of binge drinking, or would even engage in other undesirable social behaviour such as shop-lifting and violent behaviour. Many of the female binge drinkers started with social drinking on various social occasions, with some of them starting to engage in binge drinking within a year.

Binge drinking is thus a concern for women as for men. So guys, be a responsible man and make sure that you and the ladies around you enjoy this festive time without binge drinking.

From all of us in the Men' s Health Programme, have a happy and safe Christmas & New Year!

For tips on sensible and responsible drinking, please refer to the "Drink Smart" section and previous sharing in "Drink Alcohol Sensibly" and "Say No to Binge Drinking" of the Newsroom section of our website. For more findings about drinking habits of Hong Kong people, please browse the December 2004 issue of the "NCD Aware" publication.

(Last Updated on 23-12-2005)