Huron Perth public health updates alcohol guidance following new report
The Stratford area’s public health unit is updating its messaging on the risks associated with drinking alcohol following a major revision to guidelines established by the Canadian Centre of Substance Use and Addiction.
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The Stratford area’s public health unit is updating its messaging on the risks associated with drinking alcohol following a major revision to guidelines established by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.
“In general, the new guidance is quite a significant change,” Lyndsay O’Donnell, a public health promoter at Huron Perth public health, said Tuesday. “We want people to know that all alcohol use comes with risk and this new guidance allows people to make informed decisions about their health and their own alcohol use.”
The centre updated its alcohol consumption guidelines in mid-January, moving away from a decade-old report that suggested having 15 standard drinks per week for men and 10 per week for women was low-risk behaviour.
In its newest report for Health Canada, the centre’s researchers say there is now a “moderate” risk of harm for those who consume between three and six standard drinks a week. At seven or more standard drinks per week, a person’s risk of heart disease or stroke increases, according to the report, and each additional drink “radically increases the risk of these alcohol-related consequences.”
“We now know that even a small amount of alcohol can be damaging to health,” researchers summarized in a section intended for the public. “That’s why if you drink, it’s better to drink less.”
Some members of Canada’s academic circles have been critical of the report.
“Any reasonable government should ignore the guidelines completely,” Dan Malleck, a professor of health sciences at Brock University, recently told the Canadian Press. “It’s poor research, ideologically driven, and based upon spurious connections with health harms.”
Malleck has since outlined his argument in a Twitter thread, calling into question, among other criticisms, the scope of the 16 studies researchers used to draw their conclusions.
In an article for The Conversation, Kiffer George Card, an assistant professor in health sciences at Simon Fraser University, argued the report ignores studies about the social benefits of alcohol use.
“Just as most people do not know that alcohol increases your risk for cancer, most of us also don’t realize that poor social health is just as, if not more, harmful than smoking, drinking, being obese, sedentary living and exposure to poor air quality,” Card wrote. “Considered along with a growing body of research that emphasizes meaningful social connections as the most important determinant of happiness and well-being, these studies suggests that we (at least those of us who feel a little more social after a drink or two) might benefit more from drinking alcohol than abstaining from it.”
The new guidelines have sparked debate in a country where about two-thirds of Canadian drinkers are consuming alcohol in the riskier ranges, according to a recent Statistics Canada survey.
That includes plenty of people in and around Stratford.
Huron Perth public health highlighted in a press release this week a Statistics Canada survey that suggests 26 per cent of residents in the region consume enough alcohol to be considered at “high” risk of consequences, more than the provincial average of 21 per cent. About 17 per cent of local residents reported having three to six drinks per week, while 38 per cent reported having zero drinks in the week leading up to the survey.
Compared to Ontario, fewer Huron-Perth residents consume alcohol at a zero, low, or moderate risk level, the health unit added.
Regardless of how readers might feel about the new guidelines, O’Donnell said it’s important to remember the definition of a “standard drink” when making decisions about alcohol consumption.
In Canada a standard beer, cider or cooler is 12 ounces, a standard wine is 5 ounces, and a standard spirit is 1.5 ounces.
“A tall can of beer (16 ounces) is a really great example,” O’Donnell said. “That is more than what one standard drink of beer is. Those can vary in percentage of alcohol as well. It’s not only (about) being aware of how many drinks you’re (having), but what is the actual size of a standard drink.”
Huron Perth public health has updated its website to reflect the new drinking guidelines from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.
“We’ve also shared these new guidelines with healthcare providers (so that) they have the most up to date evidence on what they can share with their patients,” O’Donnell said. “We also do quite a bit of work at the prevention level with youth, talking about the risks of … alcohol use.”
-With files from the Canadian Press
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