Binge drink scare tactics 'do not work'Sunday May 11 2008
Drinkers ignore government health campaigns because limits are seen as 'unrealistically' low
Ministers should accept that people enjoy getting drunk from time to time and stop labelling Britain a 'nation of binge drinkers', says a new study.
Research from the University of Bath found that the government's constant emphasis on the dangers of drunkenness had failed to change people's behaviour.
Public health messages instructing people to stick to moderate drinking were widely ignored, it concluded, especially among young people who thought the number of units recommended were 'unrealistically' low.
Dr Andrew Bengry-Howell, an expert in young people's behaviour who carried out the research, said efforts to shame heavy drinkers by branding them 'binge drinkers' had also failed.
The problem is that the definition of a binge drinker - someone who drinks to get drunk - could encompass the majority of people at some time in their lives, he said.
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