Researchers have found an effective way to get people to drink less alcohol: highlight the increased risk of cancer that comes with drinking and pair that with counting each and every drink.
That particular combination of “why to reduce” and “how to reduce it” messages can be useful in promoting health in a population, the team behind the 2021 study said.
Too much drinking doesn’t just lead to Cancer, Of course. Overdoing alcohol is linked to a whole host of problems, including premature death, heart disease, digestive problems, and more an increased risk of dementia.
“We found that linking information about alcohol and cancer with a specific practical action—counting their drinks—resulted in drinkers reducing the amount of alcohol they consumed.” said economist and psychologist Simone Pettigrew from the George Institute for Global Health.
Three surveys were completed for the study: 7,995 people completed the first, 4,588 of those people completed the second three weeks later, and 2,687 people completed the last survey three weeks later. The participants were divided into different groups and shown different advertisements and messages related to drinking.
One combination stood out compared to a control group: A TV ad linking alcohol and cancer, along with a suggestion to count your drinks, was one of the most effective at getting people to cut down on alcohol consumption.
It was also the only combination that actually resulted in people significantly reducing their alcohol consumption over the six weeks.
Other approaches — like encouraging people to choose a range of drinks and then stick with them — prompted some of the volunteers to try drinking less, but there was a clear winner based on the people participating in this one study participated.
“Many people don’t know that alcohol is carcinogenic” said Pettigrew. “It’s important information that drinkers should have access to. But telling people that alcohol causes cancer is only part of the solution – we also need to give them ways to take action to reduce their risk.”
Alcohol consumption can be responsible for up to 7 percent of premature deaths worldwide. according to the World Health Organizationand raising drinker awareness of the health risks is one way to address this issue.
While public health authorities have also explored ways to make alcohol less readily available and more expensive, ultimately personal choices will determine whether or not alcohol-related behaviors will change in the long term.
In this particular study, participants were selected to be “broadly demographically representative of the Australian drinking public,” so it’s not an approach that’s necessarily going to work elsewhere – but counting your drinks seems to be an option you could try if you’d like to decrease.
“There are limited resources available for alcohol harm reduction campaigns, so it’s important to find out which messages resonate best to ensure they have the best chance of getting a job.” said Pettigrew.
The study was published in addictive behavior.
A previous version of this article was first published in June 2021.
