Dry January may be over but we all need to watch our alcohol intake, says Catherine Scott

There was something of the Dunkirk spirit about the first lockdown as we all pulled together to get through. The news of a vaccine at the end of last year gave us hope that 2021 would see some sort of normality return, so when that didn’t happen it hit people even harder.

After a Christmas unlike any other I started 2021 with good intentions of cutting down on the booze (Dry January was beyond me) and trying to get a bit healthier.

But then lockdown happened, schools shut and, like many, the wine bottle was opened.

Apparently there were mixed feelings about Dry January/Veganuary this year with shoppers embracing two different approaches to lockdown. According to market researchers Kantar sales of vegan products and no-alcohol beer both grew in January, but alcohol was the order of the day with sales up £234m year on year.

Even when things were normal I never really understood Dry January. It always seemed like the worst month to give up alcohol. When the days are so short and the weather so bad, it seems like you are setting yourself up to fail in my opinion. I take my hat off to everyone who can make it through this interminable month and they must feel great to have achieved it. Joking aside people’s reliance on alcohol during the pandemic is going to have serious consequences for many. Latest figures from the ONS released this week show a worrying increase in the number of alcohol related deaths. And what is more worrying is that figures are for 2019 – before the pandemic hit.

Alcohol-specific death rates in 2019 rose significantly in Yorkshire and the Humber compared to the previous year, rising from 11.7 to 13.9 deaths per 100,000 whilst at the same time, significant decreases were registered in the South West from 10.7 to 8.7 deaths per 100,000. And the figures were worse in deprived areas with people in poor areas three time more likely to die from alcohol than those is more well off area. They are sobering figures, pardon the expression, and I can only start to imagine what they figures will be when released next year. And so while Dry January isn’t for me I think there may be a lot of us who need to take a look at our alcohol consumption during lockdown and beyond.