Change4Life: Don't let the drink sneak up on you

The Department of Health's latest Change4Life campaign for adults is to get us all to watch how much we drink. I know that this is an area I need to look into. They have done a fun little video to get us started:

Most of us know that we should try and stick to the recommended limits:


Women: should not regularly* drink more than 2 to 3 units of alcohol a day. That’s no more than a standard 175ml glass of wine (ABV 13%)

Men: should not regularly* drink more than 3 to 4 units of alcohol a day. That’s not much more than a pint of strong lager, beer or cider (ABV 5.2%)

* “Regularly” means drinking this amount most days or every day.
ABV is the percentage of alcohol in the drink.

It's ever so easy at home to exceed these guidelines - if you open a bottle of wine and drink just half that's about 4.5 units of alcohol! If you want to know how much you have drunk then use this handy calculator: http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/understanding-alcohol.aspx.

They have also given some useful tips to cut down:

Change4Life: Latest News

The latest Change4Life newsletter has just popped into my inbox so I'd like to share some of the highlights with you all.

Drinking

February will see the launch of a new Change4Life campaign to show how easily drinking too much alcohol can sneak up on you.

Here are their top tips for cutting down on your alcohol (and sugary soft drinks) consumption:

• Carry a bottle of water when you go out to avoid sugary soft drinks
• Don't stock up on alcohol and sugary drinks when you shop
• Have a few consecutive days with no alcohol at all each week
• When you out at the pub drink more slowly (this will lead to fewer rounds)
• If out with heavy drinkers avoid joining in with rounds
• Have your first drink later in the evening and don't feel like you need to finish the bottle in one go
• Try something different instead of going to the pub

For more information go to the Drink Swap page and see what else they offer.

Supermeals

I have already written about Supermeals and the campaign is expanding. They are now running offers from 3 supermarkets to tie in with the recipes. To see what you can get have a look at the offers currently available.

SmallSteps4Life

This is a competition for English schools to win a visit by a top UK athlete by getting their pupils to think like an athlete. It opened on January 9th and runs to 9th March 2012. Teachers need to download entry forms and information for the SmallSteps4Life page.