1. when, where, why and how.
By Catherine Legault
Prepared for Hamilton Public Health Unit
Feb 2014
2. 10 drinks a week for women, with no more
than 2 drinks a day most days
15 drinks a week for men, with no more than 3
drinks a day most days
Reduce your risk of harm by drinking no more
than 3 drinks (for women) and 4 drinks (for
men) on any single occasion.
3. National Alcohol Strategy Advisory Committee
(NASAC)
25 multi-sector experts lead the
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of
the NAS recommendations, including those
dealing with:
Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines
(LRDGs); screening, brief intervention and
referral; standard drink labels; price policies;
and municipal alcohol policies
4.
5. Search conducted on multiple bibliographic databases for:
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses on impact of alcohol
on disease and injury (17 found)
Emergency department research examined for short-term or
“acute” risk of injury after drinking within previous 6-hour
period
Critical appraisal of reviews and single studies
6. The national LRDGs identify daily limits based on the point
where the risk of dying prematurely because of alcohol-
related causes is equal to that of lifetime abstainers
7. If everyone in Canada followed the LRDGs and light
drinkers did not increase consumption, then it is estimated
that:
Alcohol consumption would decrease by approximately
50%
Alcohol-related deaths would decrease by approximately
4,600 per year
8. Because of biological reasons, women's risk of many types of
alcohol related harm are higher than men's for any given
level of consumption
For example, at even one drink per day on average, a
woman's risk of getting liver cirrhosis increases by 139
percent as compared with 26 percent for males
12. Daily guidelines for young adults are lower than for adults
Risky drinking peaks in young adults with approximately
50% of drinkers consuming above the upper daily limit of
the LRDG (i.e., more than four drinks per occasion for men
and more than 3 for women) monthly or more often in the
past year
The new guidelines recommend that young adult males
never exceed 3 drinks on a single occasion and women
never exceed 2 drinks up to age 24
This lower threshold reflects growing evidence of the
detrimental effects of risky alcohol use on the developing
brains of young adults
13. A new alcohol Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral (SBIR) web
resource was developed based on the Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking
Guidelines
Offers a simple, three-step process to family physicians and healthcare
professionals for detecting and addressing problematic alcohol
consumption
14.
15. For further in-+formation on the National Alcohol Strategy,
including the LRDGs, please contact:
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
75 Albert Street, Suite 500
Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7
613-235-4048
alcohol@ccsa.ca
Twitter: @CCSAcanada
www.ccsa.ca
