A NEW study has found nearly half of young adult men are consuming risky levels of alcohol, above the national alcohol guidelines of no more than 10 standard drinks in one week. Login or signup to continue reading Men aged between 18 and 29 years-old are consistently consuming more than the guideline of four standard drinks on a typical occasion with 11 per cent consuming around nine standard drinks, a report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) found. Newcastle's Benjamin Cox, 26, says he consumes alcohol at least once a fortnight and mostly on social occasions.
"[Usually] through having drinks with friends or if I'm out having a meal at a restaurant," he said. But it's never affected his mental health and he's never been inclined to drink and drive. "I've gotten drunk and sick before but never to the point that I've made a stupid decision," he said.
Researchers from the longitudinal study Ten to Men , tracked over 16,000 boys and men over the last decade, surveying males aged between 10 and 57 years-old, four times between 2013-14 and 2022. Boys aged between 10 and 17 years-old reported high-risk drinking when they were first surveyed, with six per cent consuming around nine standard drinks on a typical drinking occasion. Over the next decade, 13 per cent of this same group were consistently drinking at risky levels, the report stated.
It was found across all age groups, consuming alcohol underage was shown to be a strong predictor of risky drinking in later.
