NCD Watch

Alcohol-free Christmas and New Year Parties

19 Dec 2011 (Mon)

Christmas and New Year are good times for nights out with friends, family get-togethers and office parties. During festive celebrations and social gatherings, some people may feel like to have a few drinks. However, either on a single occasion or on a regular basis, drinking too much can lead to serious health problems.

The Behavioural Risk Factor Survey April 2010 reported that in the 30 days before enumeration, 16.9% of community-dwelling adults aged 18 - 64 drank beyond the recommended daily limit on any of their drinking days (i.e. exceeding 2 standard drinks for men and 1 standard drink for women). Besides, 7.2% of respondents had binge drinking (with 5 or more alcoholic drinks in a row within a couple of hours) and 5.8% had drunk so much that they exhibited signs of drunkenness.

Remember, Christmas and New Year is a time of the year for celebrating and enjoying ourselves, and not for getting into troubles or feeling sorry for stupid drunk acts. In fact, party hosts do not have to serve alcoholic beverages at parties, and party-goers do not have to drink. Many people can still have a great party time when there are no beers or wines, and non-alcoholic beverages are served as alternatives (such as alcohol-free fruit punches, juices, tea and coffee). If party hosts still want to serve alcoholic beverages at their parties, they should know if their guests have had drunk too much and when to stop serving alcohol. Of course party hosts have to stay sober themselves to entertain guests! For the guests, they should limit their intake to minimise alcohol-related harm.