Binge drinkers most likely to be rich white men

5.00pm

Binge drinkers are most likely to be white New Zealand men, who live in cities and have a household income of over $70,000, new research commissioned by the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) says.

ALAC chief executive Mike MacAvoy said that the new study -- The Way We Drink: A Profile Of Drinking Culture In New Zealand -- showed that the wealthier people were the more they drank.

In addition, many of those who did not drink as much would if they could afford it and had fewer responsibilities, Dr MacAvoy said.

"Uninhibited binge drinkers are most likely to be able to afford as much alcohol as they want. They are the group less likely to identify any reasons to modify their drinking behaviour or attitudes," he said in a statement.

While most "uninhibited binge drinkers" were men some were also women, he said.

"We can no longer pretend that binge drinking is solely a teenage problem, nor is it just a male problem," he said.

He said uninhibited binge drinkers tended to drink two or three times a week, with 14 per cent drinking between seven and 10 drinks the last time they drank and 11 per cent drinking more than 11 drinks.

Binge drinking is defined as five standard drinks in a single session for teenagers, or seven standard drinks in a single session for adults.

Dr MacAvoy said the study showed 50 per cent of New Zealanders accepted drunkenness as socially acceptable.

If the research was extrapolated out, about 1.2 million New Zealanders believed it was okay to get drunk, 350,000 people binge drank the last time they drank alcohol and 275,000 set out to get drunk during their last drinking session.

Dr MacAvoy said the research showed that people of all ethnicities, sexes and ages, in all walks of life, drank in a risky way.

" What this research shows us is that drunken behaviour is a part of mainstream New Zealand culture. It's not just the behaviour of young people or dependent drinkers," he said.

"New Zealanders are concerned about young people's risky drinking behaviours, and rightly so... But youth drinking culture mirrors an adult drinking culture. New Zealanders accept risky drinking and being drunk as a social norm," he said.

"The culture of New Zealand drinking is our problem and we all have to change our patterns of drinking and tolerance of binge drinking and intoxication. New Zealanders must confront the reality of their drinking habits."

Dr MacAvoy said the study showed young people's attitude towards alcohol was less inhibited than adults.

Young people aged between 12 and 17 were about 20 per cent more likely to believe it was okay to get drunk and about a quarter said they set out to get drunk when they drank.

Dr MacAvoy said despite 63 per cent of adults saying they set strict rules about their children drinking, only half of them knew when their children drank.

He said the study showed about half the under-18-year-olds who binge drank socially, said it was their parents who provided them the alcohol, but 48 per cent said they were not supervised by an adult when they drank.

He said there was a strong perception among young people that their parents were OK with their drinking habits. They cited their parents supplying them with alcohol as proof of this, he said.

Dr MacAvoy said a fifth of the women over the age of 18 who drank were binge drinkers.

He said the study showed that those women who did binge drink matched men in the amount they drank and also in their attitudes to accepting drunken behaviour.

Adult women who binge drank tended to be Pakeha, in full-time employment and had a personal or household income between $30,000 and $70,000. They were usually over 25 years of age, lived in large towns or cities, and had children between the ages of five and 15 years.

The study showed that Maori drank less regularly but more heavily than most New Zealanders.

About 39 per cent of Maori drank at least once a week compared with 56 per cent of all New Zealand adults, but 22 per cent of Maori reported drinking more than 10 drinks during their last drinking session, compared to 8 per cent of all adults.

Dr MacAvoy said people of Pacific Island descent had the highest numbers of non-drinkers, but those who did drink, drank heavily.

The study showed that 46 per cent were non-drinkers compared with 19 per cent of the general population.

About 33 per cent drank at least one drink a week. About 22 per cent drank more than 10 drinks during their last drinking session, Dr MacAvoy said.

- NZPA