By Stephanie Clue [1]
BELLEVILLE – During the month of February, health units across Ontario want you to think about your relationship with alcohol.
The Rethink Your Drinking [2] campaign is aimed at educating people on what a standard drink size is, understand the Canadian Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines [3] and help change the way you think about and use alcohol.
The health unit is “trying to raise awareness about alcohol consumption in general and getting people to talk about alcohol and their relationship with alcohol,” says Stephanie MacDonald, a public-health nurse in Belleville.
A report by the health unit found that almost half the adult population in the province and throughout Hastings [4] and Prince Edward [5] counties drink more than the amount set out in Canada’s low-risk alcohol drinking guidelines.
Those guidelines say that women should have no more than 10 drinks a week or two per day, and that men have no more than 15 drinks a week or three per day. The guidelines also suggest planning non-drinking days to avoid developing a habit.
According to the Low-Risk Alcohol Indicator Report [6] for the area, about 44 per cent of adults said they have more than the recommended number of drinks per day.
MacDonald says the health unit hopes this campaign will make people think about how much they drink.
“Once you start to examine that relationship you have with alcohol, maybe you’ll start to realize ‘OK, maybe I’m not drinking in a way that’s beneficial for my health,” she said.
The Hastings-Prince Edward health unit has participated in the campaign in the past, but this time other health units in Ontario are involved.
“This is the first time that other health units have come together in a more co-ordinated way, because we’re really trying to put out an consistent message to the public,” she said. “We’re hoping that the more health units involved, the greater our reach.”
To encourage people to participate, the health unit has set up booths in four LCBO [7] locations in the counties.
“The booths are another way to reach out to the public,” MacDonald said. “We engage the customers to come to our booth and pour what they think would be a standard-size drink and then we compare it to what an actual standard drink size is.”
The health unit is using social media to get the public involved. The hashtag #DrinkFreeHPE will enter participants into a contest.
Ready for a challenge? Cut out/cut back alcohol this month & share your experience using #DrinkFreeHPE [8] U could win! https://t.co/AQ6NZ3HA6g [9] pic.twitter.com/oObwbwjwVn [10]
— HPE Public Health (@HPEPublicHealth) January 27, 2017 [11]
Prizes include a massage-therapy session, a package valued at about $270 from CrossFit Belleville, and a two-month membership at the Belleville YMCA, MacDonald said.
“All it takes is one tweet or Facebook post using the hashtag and they’re automatically entered.”