Sponsored by
Internet enlisted to dry out city's binge-drink students
Joanne Ginley THE internet is being used in Leeds in a bid to persuade the city's binge-drinking students to cut back on alcohol.
Families in the Headingley area have long complained about the alcohol-fuelled late night antics of some of the students who make up a sizeable percentage of the local population.
But now staff at Leeds University have launched a website which aims to reduce consumption by 10 per cent over two years.
If successful the project could be used by universities and other student populations across Europe to target the problem.
Three hundred student volunteers will feed information on their drinking habits into the website, and get personalised information on how many units they're consuming and the risks associated with hitting the bottle.
They will get feedback not only on how much they are drinking, in comparison to a sensible number of units, which could persuade them to cut back, but will also be given information about how much their peers drink.
"There's growing interest in the health professions in using online resources to change the way people behave," said principal investigator and project manager Bridgette Bewick from Leeds University's psychological therapies research centre.
"The widespread availability of low-cost IT makes the internet a great potential source for instigating change.
"Students tend to overestimate how much their peers are drinking.
"Giving them personalised feedback that they're in a high-risk category can act as a wake-up call."
Feedback will be given on students' perceptions of how drinking is impacting on their health, whether it is making a hole in their finances and their studies.
The e-UNICAL project, designed by the university's information systems services department, will go live this month.
"If the trial is successful in reducing alcohol consumption and binge drinking it will provide an effective and low-cost tool that could be used not only by the University of Leeds but also by student populations across the UK and Europe," said Ms Bewick.
There is mounting concern at the effects of binge drinking and the impact of the recent change in the law that allowed pubs to apply for 24-hour licences, although recent studies appear to show it has not led to a dramatic increase in drinking.
Around 60 per cent of violent crime across Leeds is said to be linked to alcohol, while nationally the annual cost of booze-related disorder is estimated to be 20bn.
A report published in December revealed Yorkshire has the highest level of binge drinking and more people dependent on alcohol than anywhere else in the country.
According to the Over the Limit report, sponsored by the Home Office and the Department of Health, one in five people in the region drink double the recommended daily amount at least once a week.
Worryingly, one person in 20 is judged to be dependent on alcohol and more than a third drink above the limit doctors suggest.
joanne.ginley@ypn.co.uk
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
- Rival chips in with £500,000 to restore the original Harry Ramsden’s
- Visit from Princess as Serbian culture celebrated
- SportsTalk: Leeds United’s manager search, Super League and Calcutta Cup
- Libraries aren’t like supermarkets, they are magical places where dreams begin
- Strategic review will lead to job losses at Yorkshire Bank
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
