Few people will change their drinking habits in London

BMJ 1996;312:506-507 (24 February)

Letters

Few people will change their drinking habits in London

EDITOR,--Considerable concern has been expressed¹ ² about theDepartment of Health's recent report that raised the limitsfor sensible drinking.³ During the first two weeks of this yearwe carried out a survey of people's knowledge of the changesin the recommended maximum daily alcohol intake.

Altogether 191 people (mean age 34) whom we stopped in the streetsof south west London responded to our questionnaire. Interestingly,only 38 of them knew the new maximum limits for men and 38 forwomen. Instead, 36 people stated the old limits for men and45 for women. After we told the people of the new guidelines189 said that they would not change the amount of alcohol theydrank; only two said that they would drink more. Despite oursurprise this was reassuring. We were worried, though, by thefour people who thought that after 6 units of alcohol they wereover the . . . [Full text of this article]