To think 87.3% of British women don't drink less than me?

[theduchessstill]

I went on one of those sites where they track and evaluate your drinking - was inspired to do so by another thread. I know I drink a bit too much - across three nights I have a bottle of wine and often a couple of bottles of lager or another glass or 2 of wine.

The site calculated it as 16 units - I knew it would be there or thereabouts so no great shock there, but then said that 87.3% of British women drink less. I find that hard to believe. Who is buying all the wine then? There are people who are alcoholics, people who drink small - medium amounts every night, people who have a massive blow-out every week etc etc.

Surely we don't have a massive problem with alcohol in this country (and we do) if the vast majority of women drink less than me, who drinks slightly over the maximum amount recommended. In particular, I understood women's drinking was of particular concern.

I'm not looking for validation - I know the amount I have is a bit too much but I'm happy enough with it atm, but that figure seemed unlikely to me.

What about the supermarket sales of alcohol? Wine particularly? Prosecco specifically?

Sainsbury's sell 3.5 million bottles of wine, per week. Conservative estimate. Probably nearer 4 million, per week.

That's a lot.

But if the average adult were to drink the same as OP (roughly 2 bottles of wine per week), then the supermarkets would need to sell about 106 million bottles of wine per week. So four million is not a lot really. Even if Asda, Tesco and Waitrose all sell the same as Sainsburys, plus another 15 million for smaller stores and off-licenses combined, that's still only 31 million bottles. Nowhere near enough for every adult to have two bottles each. Add in similar beer sales and you're still nowhere near.

But there's also spirits and beer and alcohol served in pubs and restaurants etc.

It would be interesting to know the average amount of alcohol sold per person, but you would also need to account for any imported/exported.

I buy nearly all the gin that i drink in foreign airports because I travel regularly and it's much cheaper abroad. Based on UK sales, my gin consumption is probably about one bottle every two years, whereas my actual annual gin consumption is more like one bottle every 2 months.

True. Agreed.

Tesco are the biggest seller and they sell 320 million bottles of wine, a year in the UK.

Maybe I got confused, or misunderstood what the OP was actually asking?

Is she / OP average?
What is average? Where does this website get its info? What % of the population drinks a lot/medium/minimal or occasional/none.

The stats for how much alcohol is bought from supermarkets is huge. Plus add in that consumed in pubs and bars.

2 bottles a week. She asked if that is average/normal/recommended. I think we can all probably agree not. But the website said : certain % drinks less than you....

Lots of posters said they drink none.

I don't know what the average is.... but I suspect it's somewhere in the middle.

Nothing holier than thou, I just don't like alcohol. Why do people always think everything is about them?

Thinking about it, my parents have a glass of wine (my mum often half a glass) with their evening meal a few times a week. However, their glasses are a ridiculous size by modern standards - I've seen long stemmed liqueur glasses bigger than the ones they have. Apparently they were the standard size when they got them in the early 70s. They can make a bottle of wine last nearly a fortnight between the two of them.

You should see the size of their sherry glasses. They look like something out of a doll's house.

I don't drink at all. However I used to drink the units worth of about 4 people per week

Partner rarely drinks either and it'll be a glass of wine or two beers when they do.

"
Today 11:21Isetan

I rarely drink (ten units a year), never liked the taste. "
Why do you drink anything? I'm really curious, do you try different things each time?

I drink 1 bottle a week at home (start Friday, finish Sunday) during a working week. More if I'm on holiday or go out mid week (maybe once a month). My wine rack tells me one bottle has 9-10 units in it. I try and avoid 14% wine.

The thing is people rarely tell the truth to doctors or in surveys about how much they drink if they drink a lot, so I suspect there is a lot of underreported drinking. Virtually everyone I know drinks, many of them a lot more than the OP, but that is just my social circle so I don't know how representative it is of wider drinking norms.

I suppose once you factor in people who don't drink for religious or specific health reasons, people who just don't like it and people who just don't drink much perhaps there really are only a few people who drink more than me. It doesn't feel that way to me though because almost all the people I spend my time with drink similar amounts to me.

MadisonAvenue
People seem to find it difficult to accept that you don't drink. personally speaking, if I say I don't want an alcoholic drink then that leads to a lot of attempted arm twisting. "Oh go on." "Just have the one" "Are you sure?"

I don't drink, the smell and taste of alcohol are not appealing to me. The judgement and snide remarks are appalling.

That doesn't seem much at all to me. I must be in the minority. A bottle of wine is only 3 glasses. I will have 5/6 pints of ale (5-6%) per night over the weekend, but I am equally happy to go without too. I wouldn't say it's a problem - I just enjoy a drink sometimes

A bottle used to hold five or six glasses, Machammer. When you look at how many units per glass, it's a very small glass of 12% wine, not the large glass of 14% we routinely have now. This is particularly problematic during pregnancy, apparently.

If the majority of people lie about what they drink, then surely statistics based on percentages won't actually be affected to a large degree?

Not sure why you are raising your eyebrow at me oblomov, do you really think that you and the people immediately around you are more reflective of society from Land's End all the way to Shetland, than Mumsnet which actually has members from all over the UK? Okaaay then!

Since becoming a mum I rarely drink alcohol; maybe 16 units a year!

I don't drink at all. My colleagues at work say they only drink on a Friday or Saturday night. My adult son hardly drinks at all.

I bought some alcohol today but not touching it. I guess the problem lies in if you have alcohol in the house and feel like you need to drink. If you feel like you need one then there's an issue, hopefully you can cut down slowly as if your body is used to it, it could be a shock to just stop.

But I think the percentages are skewed because people who don't drink or rarely drink won't lie; it's the people who drink moderately or heavily who think or pretend they drink less than they do, maybe trying to squeeze under the recommended level. It's like surveys about how often people have sex where straight men appear to have sex much more frequently than straight women.

I have two groups of really good friends, one set who drink themselves into oblivion on a regular basis and one group who live on tea. I love both groups but as a non-drinker I do find it quite hard to be with the drinkers as I think they don't really feel completely comfortable having a non-drinker around. Not sure why although they love me driving them places! I tend to leave earlier than them and take any stragglers home with me who can't take the pace that evening. Don't mind them drinking at all in fact they make me laugh with some of the things they get up to! I don't feel bored with them drinking as they are great company.

Ontopofthesunset, but if all or most the moderate to heavy drinkers lie, the number of units may be different - but the percentages will be largely similar.

But I suppose they won't all lie so there will be a smaller percentage admitting how much they drink. That's just my supposition though and may have no validity at all.

I drink a drink at my birthday, Christmas maybe New Year, wedding anniversary and maybe at weddings. I'll also drink about half a bottle of wine over a two week holiday.
Because that's quite low my dr marks 0 units. I don't lie, but my Dr is doing so in my name.
From listening to friends talk about their drinking I'd say 1/2 lie / are deluded about their own drinking habits

I don't know about you OP but I feel like such a heavy drinker hearing all these replies! My friends in RL however, drink the same/ more than you, on average, so I'm confused about the stats too!