Alarm at over-65s who risk health with booze

A fifth of over-65 drinkers down far too much

MIDDLE class pensioners are putting their health at risk by regularly drinking the equivalent of more than a bottle of whisky a week.

 

A fifth of drinkers over 65 are consuming far more than the recommended weekly limit for alcohol, with affluent men the most likely to drink too much.

And the top five per cent of elderly male and female drinkers are downing more than 49 and 23 units respectively - at least three-and-a-half pints of beer a day for men or one and-a-half medium glasses of wine for women.

The recommended weekly limit is 21 units for men and 14 for women.

The numbers of older people admitted to hospital as a result of intoxication are also on the rise

Age UK director Caroline Abrahams

 

Dr Mark Ashworth, of King’s College London, which carried out the study, said some of the findings were “truly astonishing”.

He said many were putting away an average of the equivalent of a bottle of whisky – which contains 30 units.

He added: “We usually get clusterings of health problems among ethnic communities and the poor. This is the opposite, affecting the white middle classes.”

Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said: “Drinking low to moderate levels of alcohol can often be an important part of social life for older people.

“However, excessive drinking in later life is a growing and serious problem. The numbers of older people admitted to hospital as a result of intoxication are also on the rise.”

Alcohol Concern chief executive Jackie Ballard said the single most effective policy change would be a minimum price per unit of alcohol.

The study was published in the BMJ Open journal.