Published Aug 19, 2022 | 3:39 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 19, 2022 | 3:40 PM
Doctors say drinking even one glass of alcohol is not safe.
Researchers have found a simple trick that may reduce drinking: Just reduce the size of the bottles and glasses!
A study published in the scientific journal Addiction found that households in the United Kingdom consumed about 6.5 percent less wine when drinking from smaller (290 ml) glasses than from larger (350 ml) glasses.
The households also consumed 3.6 percent less wine when drinking from smaller bottles than from larger bottles.
According to the fifth edition of India’s National Family and Health Survey, 43.4 percent of the male household population in Telangana aged 15 years and over drink alcohol, the second-highest share in the country.
That number goes up to 6.7 percent when it comes to the female household population above 15 years.
It is followed by Tamil Nadu (27.9 percent male, 0.3 percent female), Andhra Pradesh (23.1 percent male, 0.5 percent female), Kerala (19.9 percent male, 0.2 percent female), and Karnataka (16.6 percent male, 0.9 percent female) among the southern states.
“Drinking too much alcohol can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems, and even premature death,” Hyderabad-based cardiologist Dr Prashant Rao told South First.
“You cannot forget that it also causes liver damage and neurological complications such as Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.
Wine is the most-commonly-drunk alcoholic beverage in Europe, and most of it is consumed in homes rather than in bars, restaurants, or pubs.
For the study, researchers recruited 260 UK households from the general population that consumed at least two 750-ml bottles of wine each week.
During two 14-day intervention periods, the households were asked to drink from either 750-ml or 375-ml bottles, in a randomised order. They were also randomised to receive smaller (290ml) or larger (350ml) glasses from which to drink.
The volume of wine consumed at the end of each 14-day intervention period was measured using photographs of purchased bottles, weighed on provided scales.
Using smaller glasses reduced the amount of wine drunk by around 6.5 percent (253ml per fortnight).
Drinking from smaller bottles reduced the amount of wine consumed by 3.6 percent (146ml per fortnight).
The perception of counting “How many glasses I drink?” consciously helps people drink less, the authors said.
“Reducing the size of wine glasses used in homes could contribute to policies for reducing drinking. These policies could include pricing glasses according to capacity to increase the demand for smaller glasses,” they added.
“Also, there should be regulation for glass sizes in bars, restaurants, and other licensed premises to help shift social norms for what constitutes an acceptable glass size for use outside as well as within the home,” said the authors of the study.
