Alcohol Awareness Week is a national campaign and takes place from 13-19 November 2017 with this year’s focus on alcohol and families.
Run by the charity Alcohol Concern, Alcohol Awareness Week has seen a number of news stories using statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Public Health England and others which highlight how data can teach us about society and provide vital evidence for public policy.
For example:
- The Evening Standard’s article, ‘This is what alcohol really does to your body’ pointed out 2016’s 7,327 alcohol-specific deaths in the UK, based on research using ONS Mortality records (England and Wales)
- The Huffington Post discussed ‘How to talk to your kids about alcohol’, covering research which used Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People
- Cancer Research UK’s Science blog looked at whether Amazon’s Alexa app could help people cut their drinking. The blog post relates to findings from a study published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2011, using information from the General Lifestyle Survey (General Household Survey) and National Diet and Nutrition Survey
In addition, a report in October 2017, ‘Like sugar for adults’, reported on children’s anxiety about parents’ drinking. Published by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) in partnership with the Alcohol and Families Alliance and Alcohol Focus Scotland, it ‘shows that parents do not have to regularly drink large amounts of alcohol for their children to notice changes in their behaviour and experience negative impacts’.
IAS conducted the online survey of almost 1,000 parents and their children and interviewed focus groups, experts and practitioners. Findings included:
- 29% of parents reported having been drunk in front of their child
- 51% of parents reported having been tipsy in front of their child
- 29% of parents thought it was OK to get drunk in front their child as long as it did not happen regularly
To search for data in our collection which explore research on alcohol use, visit our key theme pages on Health and health behaviour and explore our catalogue.
To see other articles in the news visit the UK Data Service Scoop.it page.