Women In Ireland Rank Near Top Of Global Alcohol Consumption

Irish women are now seventh in the world for daily alcohol consumption.

A new report shows that Irish women are knocking back three drinks a day on average and come in higher than Irish men in the global survey.

Many people believe drinking one glass of wine isn’t harmful, but one large glass can contain up to three standard glasses of wine.

According to Independent.ie, Irish women have on average 3.1 drinks per day and came seventh in the ranking. Women in Ukraine (4.2 drinks per day), Andorra (3.4) and Luxembourg (3.4) consume the most.

The report concludes that abstaining completely is the only way to avoid health risks and increasing their risk of heart disease, cancer and injury.

The findings, which were published in the Global Burden of Disease study in the ‘Lancet’ medical journal, quash previous beliefs that moderate consumption – one drink a day for women and two for men – would prevent heart disease.

The authors insist that any health benefits of drinking alcohol are outweighed by the negative health effects.

Men in Ireland are also drinking harmful amounts, consuming 4.5 drinks per day, but unlike women, they do not make the Top 10 globally.

A “standard drink” equated to about 10g of pure alcohol in Ireland. This is found in about half a pint in Ireland, a shot (35ml) of spirits or a small glass (100ml) of 12.5% wine.

But, a lot of wines are 13.5% or 14.5% which would make a large glass more than “three standards” drinks.

Dr Max Griswold from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington warned, “Although the health risks associated with alcohol start off being small with one drink a day, they then rise rapidly as people drink more.”

The study showed there were 990 alcohol related-deaths among women in Ireland in 2016 and 1,800 deaths among men.

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