Can Scottish inventiveness curb the nation’s alcohol habit?

Posted by John Mooney, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, University of Sunderland

 Churchill is defeated by a Temperance movement MP - Dundee election result in 1922

“Of all the nations of this earth, perhaps only the ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind…” 

Sir Winston Churchill

This often cited sentence from the great orator’s canon of memorable expressions, frequently (in social media posts at least), is accompanied by a story of the number of times in a normal day ‘the typical Englishman’ is obliged to thank his Northern cousins for gifts bestowed:

From the spreading of ‘Dundee marmalade’ in the morning to his whisky night-cap it is easy to lose count of those almost innumerable causes for daily gratitude. In these days of Prophet Greta, perhaps the less said about ‘TarMacAdam’ and the internal combustion engine the better… but in our defence there is always Kirkpatrick MacMillan’s bicycle to offset that carbon footprint!

It’s no accident of course that pride of place be afforded in the above account to Scotland’s national drink of distilled and malted barley – renowned the World over for its unparalleled quality and distinctive dalliance on the palate. Scotland’s broader relationship with alcohol however, has not traditionally been a reputation to which one might raise a glass and is perhaps better summed up by the lovable and tragic Rab C Nesbit (right). The real tragedy of course being the excessive and abiding toll of alcohol related illness and premature death for which Scotland is infamous and also near the top of the World league table, for all the wrong reasons...

And yet, the nation’s pioneering spirit (of the non-liquid variety!) and very inventiveness in the face of a challenge may yet serve up another exemplar for others to follow. In May 2018 Scotland became the first country in the World to introduce legislation that set a minimum floor price for a unit of alcohol (MUP). While other fiscal mechanisms have been tried and tested for tackling cheap alcohol, MUP has consistently shown the greatest promise in modelling studies, since it cannot be “absorbed” by the retailer [1].

Sure enough, the first evaluation of the population level impact of MUP has found the policy to be associated with reduced alcohol purchasing. In line with model predictions, the reductions were largest for those households purchasing the most alcohol and for those drinks with the cheapest alcohol content [2, 3]. The very modest impacts on household budgets and the effect of reducing alcohol purchasing / consumption the most for those at greatest risk of harm also in line with predictions [4], helps counter any serious criticisms that the policy represents a regressive measure by unfairly targeting the economically disadvantaged. In the words of the Glaswegian novelist Val McDermid, on BBC Television’s Question Time in 2017: “There is nothing regressive about preventing people in Scotland’s poorest communities drinking themselves to death with cheap alcohol”.

Returning to the bigger picture, Scotland’s appetite for policy innovation to tackle alcohol harms is by no means restricted to minimum pricing. Rather, MUP is seen as only one component of a ‘whole system’ approach to tackling this most intractable and culturally embedded of public health problems. Bringing drink driving levels into line with the lower threshold in place across the rest of the EU [5] and incorporating health outcomes as a long overdue legitimate alcohol licensing objective [6], being two potential ingredients in the mix…

The Scottish ‘double edged’ relationship with alcohol can be best summed up by another snippet of Churchillian wisdom, a man who by all accounts was not unaccustomed to enjoying a ‘brandy before breakfast’:

"Whisky has killed more men then bullets, but most men would rather be full of whisky then bullets." 

Sir Winston Churchill

Perhaps the pragmatic recognition of a population’s natural affinity for a risky behaviour responsible for such a significant health burden is the first step towards realising that only meaningful restrictions in access mediated through price and availability, as well as legislative sanctions, might yet constitute the best defence against our worst excesses. Most Scots, myself included, know only too well of the devastating impact alcohol can exert on friends, families and communities. Maybe that is why we are most responsive to the remedies!


References:

1. Meier PS, Holmes J, Angus C, Ally AK, Meng Y, Brennan A: Estimated Effects of Different Alcohol Taxation and Price Policies on Health Inequalities: A Mathematical Modelling Study. PLoS Med 2016, 13(2):e1001963-e1001963.
2. Mooney JD, Carlin E: Minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland. BMJ 2019, 366:l5603.
3. O’Donnell A, Anderson P, Jané-Llopis E, Manthey J, Kaner E, Rehm J: Immediate impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol purchases in Scotland: controlled interrupted time series analysis for 2015-18. BMJ 2019, 366:l5274.
4. Holmes J, Meng Y, Meier PS, Brennan A, Angus C, Campbell-Burton A, Guo Y, Hill-McManus D, Purshouse RC: Effects of minimum unit pricing for alcohol on different income and socioeconomic groups: A modelling study. The Lancet 2014, 383(9929):1655-1664.
5. Haghpanahan H, Lewsey J, Mackay DF, McIntosh E, Pell J, Jones A, Fitzgerald N, Robinson M: An evaluation of the effects of lowering blood alcohol concentration limits for drivers on the rates of road traffic accidents and alcohol consumption: a natural experiment. Lancet 2019, 393(10169):321-329.
6. Mooney JD, Sattar Z, de Vocht F, M Smolar M, Nicholls J, Ling J: Assessing the feasibility of using health information in alcohol licensing decisions: a case study of seven English local authorities. In: Lancet Public Health Science: 2016; Cardiff: The Lancet; 2016: 78.

Image:

1. Election result in Dundee in the 1920s when Churchill was defeated by a Temperance movement MP. With thanks to Eric Carlin, Director of the Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP).

The booze, the binge and the bulge

Guest post by Cassey Muir, Research Assistant, and Alice Graye, MRes Student, Newcastle University.

Drinking behaviours and eating behaviours in young adults have been widely studied separately, but our research - FOrwaRD; exploring FOod and Risky Drinking behaviours in young adults aged 18-25 - takes a novel perspective to try and understand how drinking and eating behaviours interact and the implications for interventions.

We hope that intervening in early adulthood, when these linked unhealthy patterns emerge and are prominent, may prove beneficial in reducing the risks associated with obesity and heavy drinking. From our formative research, there seems to be an unquestioned norm that drinking alcohol and eating unhealthy food link together in the lives of young adults. There are a number of ways in which drinking and eating behaviours may interact, for example, some young adults may eat a takeaway after a night of drinking and a fry-up the next day, some may choose not to eat prior to drinking and some may drink alcohol alongside a meal (look out for research on this soon to be published by Dr Stephanie Scott and colleagues). 

While the answer to how these behaviours link together may vary, it is clear that young adults are provided with a social benefit from their linked eating and drinking patterns. A benefit that seems to be the biggest barrier for intervening with these linked behaviours.

Alice and I recently organised a Fuse Quarterly Research Meeting. The event kicked off with three inspiring talks. Firstly, Sharon Hodgson the Shadow Minister for Public Health, gave her thoughts on young adult alcohol use and eating patterns from a policy perspective. This was followed by Fuse Associate Director Dr Amelia Lake, a Reader in Public Health Nutrition who delved into the obesogenic environments that today’s young people live in, with particular emphasis on the high rates of energy drink consumption in the UK. The current research findings of the FOrwaRD project were presented by Dr Stephanie Scott and the team. These findings led into the workshop activities for the day, with attendees giving their views on young adult associated eating and drinking habits and intervention strategies. The meeting was attended by over 50 delegates responsible for policy or service delivery for young adults; this included people from Local Authorities, voluntary sector organisations and Higher Education Institutions from across the North East, as well as three young adults involved in patient and public involvement. 

Sharon Hodgson, Shadow Minister for Public Health, at the
Fuse Quarterly Research Meeting

For the workshop activities, attendees visited ‘FOrwaRD’s Food and Alcohol Big Market’ in which there were tables representing ‘venues’ and everyone had time to socialise in two venues, one bar and one takeaway shop. At each venue there was a topic to be discussed, which were:

1. Young adult eating and drinking patterns
2. Current support for young adults
3. Developing an intervention
4. Recruiting young adults at risk

There was lots of energy and positive discussions throughout the workshop activities and a clear opinion voiced that young adults should be better supported when it comes to safer drinking and healthier eating and the link between the two. Ideas to support this focused on both individual and population based approaches. Firstly, young adults may benefit from a change in policy around the food and alcohol environment. This could include; reducing the amount of alcohol and food promotional offers, restricting development of fast food and alcohol venues (for example, on and around student campuses), or setting up activities that do not revolve around food or alcohol. While these discussions mainly focused on the environment in and around Higher Education campuses, this approach may be beneficial more widely.

“We need to have a shift in the way that we approach planning and licensing around universities or colleges. Obviously, it’s harder to do because there are a lot of people who don’t go to university and college who you wouldn’t reach with that.” Group 1

Indeed, in earlier interviews with young adults, it was also found that linked food and alcohol pricing, and the night-time environment could be target areas for change.

In addition, attendees also discussed the importance of targeting a young adult’s social network, tailoring the motivational hook and goals to the individual, whether that be to lose weight, save money, to improve their appearance or mental health awareness, and that we offer healthier - and just as social - alternative behaviours.

“Perhaps finding more avenues for socialising as well that don’t involve eating and drinking. There are plenty of other things to be doing.” Group 5

“The important thing is your hook and what motivates them, because if you don’t get that then you’re not going to.” Group 3

While student eating and drinking behaviours were seen as problematic, there was a view throughout discussions that these behaviours may change or improve upon graduating, and that going into employment may act as a buffer against these behaviours escalating. Whereas, young adults who do not go to university may benefit from an intervention in the long-term. One way of accessing young adults may be to start within the community setting and approach services that support them.

At the event we made fantastic connections to discuss our findings with other young adults within community settings such as the YMCA, Balance North East, Matrix, and the Young Health Commissioners.

Do you know of any organisations who work with and support young adults and who would like to find out more information or get involved with our research project? If so, then please contact me, Cassey Muir (cassey.muir@newcastle.ac.uk). We are aiming to run workshops over the summer with young adults to get their views on how we can support them to drink safe, eat well and be social.

#DrinkSafeEatWellBeSocial

Cassey and Alice are part of a multidisciplinary research team working on the FOrwaRD project. Cassey is an early career researcher running the day-to-day activities of the project and Alice is an MRes student working on the project, exploring students’ experiences.

Dry January works for many. I'm going binge-free all year round

Guest post by Dr Victoria McGowan, Research Associate, Alcohol and Public Health Team, Teesside University, @teamalphatees

New Year’s Eve is celebrated around the world and New Year’s Day follows with many debilitating hangovers. In my case this is made so much worse as a close friend’s birthday is on 30 December, so on New Year’s Eve I’m usually nursing a hangover and wondering how I’ll conform to social convention and partake in more alcohol consumption while waiting for the clocks to strike midnight. I always manage. Taking a look at Professor Newbury-Birch’s post from November 2015 I will hold my hands up and tell you over those two nights I binge drink, every year.

About five years ago my friend and I sat in my back garden in an inebriated state and discussed how terrible we’d feel in the morning and that we should, and could, spend a whole month off the booze. I wasn’t aware of any dry January campaigns at the time and according to Wikipedia “Dry January” was registered as a trademark by Alcohol Concern in 2014, so my friend and I were ahead of the game. At the time I thought it would be quite difficult to spend a whole month booze free but I found it surprisingly easy. Although, I often go weeks without consuming alcohol so perhaps abstinence for a month wasn’t a great stretch from my normal consumption patterns. My friend made it until 30 January before she succumbed to social convention when we went out to see a band. But still, 30 days out of 31 is close enough.

Abstaining from alcohol couldn’t happen at a better time in the year, our purses tend to be a little lighter and our waistbands a little tighter so it’s a win-win situation saving £s and shaving lbs, by swapping the wine for water. But also, according to the New Scientist, dry January can have beneficial effects on your liver, and NHS Choices say it can lead to healthier long-term drinking patterns. So if it’s so good for us and it’s only one month out of 12 why am I never doing it again? Because dry January would be easy for me, I do it often without thinking and I have done it successfully in the past. What I would find challenging is consuming the recommended daily units for a woman on the occasions I do drink alcohol. This equates to 3 units (three small glasses of wine) as opposed to the 18 (two bottles of wine) I consumed at the end of 2015. I might abstain from alcohol a month at a time but drinking a whole bottle of wine in one sitting puts me above recommended daily limits. Dry January is a great idea but one booze free month cannot outweigh 11 months of 9 units even if they only happen once a month. A similar argument has been made by other writers, including a recent paper in the British Medical Journal by Ian Hamilton titled: Could campaigns like Dry January do more harm than good?

So instead of taking part in dry January this year I’m attempting binge-free moderate-months by being aware of, and trying to stick to, the recommended daily limits on the occasions when I consume alcohol.

What do you think about Dry January? Post your comments below.