Introduction
Consumption of alcohol is an affair that is determined by several factors. For instance, exposure to alcohol, reduced prices, increased production and increase in stress level et cetera are among the main factors influencing alcohol consumption. As a result, the level of consumption in a given country might vary from time to time depending on the mentioned factors.
With due recognition to the above facts, need arose for a practical survey to determine whether the amount of alcohol being consumed might have reduced or increased in the UK. This paper therefore seeks to report on the amount of alcohol being consumed at present in the United Kingdom. The paper goes further to analyze gender as well as age groups in the UK with special regard to alcohol consumption.
Statistical Data
According to HM Revenue & Customs figures cited by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), “there was a 6% fall in alcohol consumption between 2004 and 2008” (Batty, Hunt, Emslie, Lewars & Gale 2009: 10). On totting up, alcohol consumption fell by over 8% to 3.81 liters per capita in the first half of 2009. This year’s fall represents the biggest fall in consumption since 1948”.
The various complaints pointed towards alcohol production in Britain led to several studies especially by the Government’s ‘Sheffield Study’ which concluded that the increase in the price of alcohol would have led to a decrease in alcohol consumption and further a decline in health problems related to alcohol. This proved that the total number of individuals consuming alcohol drastically reduced as compared to the other past years.
According to Emslie and Mitchell (2009), on the research that was carried out in Scotland on the rates of alcohol related deaths among men and women between 2000 and 2005, “more than twice as many men than women died from alcohol-related causes meaning 38 deaths per 100,000 men compared to 16 per 100,000 women” (p.8). The gap between the number of men who died and the number of women who died proved that men drunk more alcohol as compared to women.
For another research, secondary data was employed to conclude on gender in cases of alcohol drinking. Information was retrieved from Health Survey for England (HSE). The consumption of alcohol was taken as the main topic from which all the questions were asked without an age limit for answering questions.
Nevertheless, regarding moral issues related to alcohol, certain questions were asked to individuals below the age of eighteen. “The survey used was carried out between January 2007 to April 2007, and covers 14,386 individuals and 24,910 households using a repeated cross-sectional study using random samples” (Emslie & Mitchell, 2009).
The result shows great disparity between women and men’s views as regards use of alcohol. In spite of the several questions they were asked, I was able to analyze only two questions. First, when asked whether they felt getting drunk was acceptable, a huge number of men alleged it was satisfactory as compared to women. A percentage of 3.5 out of a total of 96 men were strongly at par with the suggestion while only a percentage of 2.3 out of a total of 79 women powerfully approved.
A percentage of 14 men approved while a percentage of 9 percent of women approved. Nonetheless, the number of men that strongly disagreed was lower than that of women with that of men being 25.8 percent out of 715 while that of women was 31.4 percent out of 1084 ladies (Office for National Statistics 2009).
In addition, more men felt that drinking was British culture a view that was less accepted by women. A percentage of 11.5 of men powerfully approved while a percentage of 9.7 of women strongly approved. 3.4 percent of women disagreed while only 2.6 percent of men disagreed. The result transparently proved the wide gap between the male and female conceptions about alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom. To be precise men consume more alcohol as compared to women (Office for National Statistics 2009).
On the other hand, considering the age groups in the United Kingdom, according to the research conducted by General Household Survey in Britain from 1998 to 2002, the number of individuals within the age group of 16 to 24 increased from 24 to 28 percent. The total number of individuals who consume alcohol drastically increases as their age also increases.
The number of individuals who consume small amounts of alcohol is closely followed by those within the age group of 25 to 44. Individuals within the age group of 45 to 64 consume a higher amount of alcohol that is a percentage of 53. Persons who drink large amounts of alcohol are those having the more than 64 years. The number of these adults who drink most is approximated to be 58 percent.
The amount of alcohol that is being consumed at nowadays at the United Kingdom is low. This is because the number of individuals consuming the alcohol has also reduced. The reduction in the number of individuals consuming alcohol has been proved beyond doubt to be linked to the many suggestions by the health personnel as well as the various governments to reduce the levels of alcohol intake.
This was because the increase in the amount of alcohol consumed led to the corresponding increase in the number of hospital admissions in the UK. Men in the UK consume large amounts of alcohol as compared to women. Adults who have more than 64 years of age consume large amounts of alcohol as compared to any other age group. This may be probably because of the idleness since by this age most of these individuals are usually jobless.
Errors
Like any other study, there were chances of errors in this study. First, there is likelihood of errors resulting from sampling. Considering that these studies depend on a sample as opposed to census which makes use of the whole population, there is likelihood that the opinions of these small groups of people might not truly represent the whole population of the UK.
Save for few, most of the researches were carried out on a population sample of less than 10,000 people. This is a small number of people to represent accurately the opinion of the UK.
Other than sampling errors, it is clear that there could have been chances of non-sampling errors. These include errors that occurred as a result of responses to the study questions. Response errors include those that happen as a result of wrong responses due to misunderstanding of the question or understanding the question but giving an inaccurate answer. Given this topic of alcohol, it is very likely that some people would not feel comfortable giving true information about their levels of consumption and total expenditure.
There is, therefore, a high chance of errors occurring from wrong information. However, putting both the sampling and non sampling errors together, it becomes clear that the average error becomes very large and might misrepresent the general picture of alcohol consumption in the UK.
Conclusion
In spite of the UK government’s recommendations on the introduction of measures to lessen the alcohol consumptions, there is still need for a new discussion about effectual strategy procedures that are undoubtedly directed at the minimal persons who wrongly use alcohol. Nevertheless, the government of the United Kingdom is attributable to the decrease in the number of individuals consuming alcohol.
The pattern of alcohol consumption for the past thirty years has been noted to have been decreasing to date. The fall in the alcohol consumption is very drastic and cannot be compared to any other years. This is attributed by many to be the prompting calls by the doctors as well as efforts by the United Kingdom to reduce alcohol related harm.
From the early centuries, the number of men consuming alcohol has been proved beyond doubt to be higher than the number of women. Conversely, according to the early research on age groups the numbers of individuals who consume alcohol more were notably found to be old individuals of more than 64 years. The number was followed by middle aged men and women as well as the youth between ages 24 and 64.
Reference List
Batty, G. D., Hunt, K., Emslie, C., Lewars, H., and Gale C., 2009. Alcohol problems and all-cause mortality in men and women: predictive capacity of a clinical screening tool in a 21 year follow-up of a large, UK-wide, general population-based survey. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 66(3), pp.17-21.
Emslie C., Mitchell R., 2009. Are there gender differences in the geography of alcohol-related mortality in Scotland? BMC Public Health. 9(58), pp.12-15. London.
Office for National Statistics, 2009. Drinking: Adults’ behavior and knowledge in 2009. Opinions Survey Report no. 42. Web.