LIFETIME OF ALCOHOL

The average Brit will down more than 5,800 pints during their lifetime, a study revealed yesterday (Thurs).

Researchers found that as well as downing their favourite lager or beer, they will also glug 8,700 glasses of wine and 2,900 bottles of cider between the ages of 18 and 78.5.

They will also sup their way through 5,800 shots of spirits, 1,452 glasses of champagne and after dinner liquor. 

But they'll suffer from 726 hangovers and will fork out a wallet-busting £58,201 to fuel their boozing habits.

The shock poll of 2,000 Brits was conducted by Benenden Healthcare Society, the leading UK health & wellbeing mutual organisation.

It revealed the average person will slurp their way through 456 drinks every year - including beer, lager, cider, wine or spirits.

Yesterday Lawrence Christensen, Head of Communications & Strategy at Benenden Healthcare, said: ‘Day by day, we may not notice our drinking habits and may not think about what it's costing us. But add it all up and the amounts become quite staggering.'

‘Recommended guidelines for alcohol consumption are 3-4 units per day in men, equating to around a pint and a half of 4% strength beer, and 2-3 units in women - a single 175 ml glass of 13% strength wine for women.'

‘This means that by getting through 456 drinks a year on average, many Brits are sailing perilously close to the wind and, in many cases, most likely exceeding guidelines.'

‘The yearly financial cost of this level of consumption also gives pause for thought, with £962 a year being no small sum for many families in the UK.'

‘Benenden Healthcare wishes to draw attention to these levels of alcohol consumption, which not only pose a medical risk but a lifestyle risk in terms of financial cost. With 726 hangovers and being £58,201 out-of-pocket, ‘enjoying a drink' regularly takes on a new dimension.'

Andrew Meredith, Medical Director at Benenden Hospital in Cranbrook, Kent, said: ‘This survey highlights the dysfunctional relationship many of us have with alcohol. The results can be seen in our town centres every week-end, in A&E departments where alcohol related conditions and injuries are a large part of the workload and the increasing numbers of admissions with alcohol related liver disease.'

The representative study quizzed adults on their drinking habits and attitudes.

It found Brits have an alcoholic drink on at least three nights a week and consume nine drinks in total. 

And the tipple which comes out on top is wine - with 47 per cent of people preferring a drop of white or red over anything else.

It also emerged the majority (57 per cent) enjoy a drink in the comfort of their own home. Just 17 per cent said they regularly consume alcohol in a pub.

And the poll cited folk will spend the equivalent of TWO YEAR'S WAGES on booze alone - spending £18.50 a week, which totals £962 a year, or an astonishing £58,201 over 60.5 years.

The survey also highlighted the full extent of Brits' alcohol intake and behaviours. 

Four in ten of us believe we need a drink to 'unwind', while a worrying one in six said they drink alcohol in the evening 'out of habit' and a similar number said it was 'escapism'.

One in ten also said they opened a bottle 'to help them forget their day'.

Four in ten Brits admitted they can't go longer than a week without having a drink, but one in ten said they would struggle to make it through two days without cracking open a bottle.  The report found the average Brit has at least one hangover a month, yet a quarter feel worse for wear on more than two occasions.

One in five have passed out after drinking too much and have done so at least once in the last 12 months.

UK adults aren't shy when it comes to trying to ‘outdrink' other revellers - with the maximum number of drinks downed in one sitting totalling ten.

Incredibly one in six have guzzled down 20 or more in just one evening.

One in five polled admitted they can't have fun out on a night out if they don't drink, 12 per cent said they ‘drink to get drunk' and more than a third have got home without remembering how.

Two thirds said they drink more on holiday - putting it down to relaxing more and being with friends - and slurp on at least four alcoholic drinks a day.

With the average holiday lasting eight days, that totals 32 glasses of wine, pints of beer and shots.

It also emerged the average person enjoyed their first tipple at the tender of just 14.

BREAKDOWN OF RESULTS: 

Alcohol consumed every month:

Eight pints of beer or lager

12 glasses of wine

Four bottles of cider

Eight shots of spirits

Two cocktails

Two glasses of liquor

Two glasses of champagne 

Alcohol consumed over average adult lifetime of 60.5 years (age 18 to 78.5):

5,808 pints of beer or lager

8,712 glasses of wine

2,904 bottles of cider

5,808 shots of spirits

1,452 cocktails

1,452 glasses of liquor

1,452 glasses of champagne 

LIFETIME ALCOHOL SPEND WOULD ALSO PAY FOR...

58 return flights from Heathrow to Sydney

Porsche Boxster S

1 bedroom ground floor flat in Canterbury

Chelsea season ticket for the next 66 years

Source for guidelines on alcohol consumption: http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/