Health warning over ‘white collar’ drinking

HEALTH chiefs have issued a warning amid fears that increasing numbers of middle-class people in Wakefield district are putting themselves at risk through excessive drinking in the home.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Jan 2014, 00:01 BST

Figures released by the Government’s Health and Social Care Information Centre reveal alcohol-related admissions for so-called “white collar workers” has doubled in the last decade.

The increase is much lower among young adults, indicating that liver disease and alcoholism are much bigger problems among middle class baby boomers than previously thought.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A quarter of people in England drink at hazardous levels and the number that go into hospital for alcohol-related reasons rose by 52 per cent between 1996 and 2006.

Wakefield performs worse than the regional average across many indicators including months of life lost as a result of alcohol, chronic liver disease, hazardous drinking, harmful drinking and binge drinking.

The figures reveal almost
a quarter of adults of adults
in Wakefield consume at least twice the daily recommended amount of alcohol and 21.4 per cent of the Wakefield population reported engaging in risk drinking.

Dr Andrew Furber, NHS Wakefield District’s Director of Public Health, said: “Regularly exceeding the recommended daily amounts for alcohol can harm your health, regardless of whether it is with three litres of strong white cider on a park bench, or a bottle of Californian merlot in front of a DVD box set.”

Related topics:WakefieldGovernmentEngland