‘Less is best’: BC releases report on alcohol consumption and associated harms

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has released a report on alcohol consumption in BC and harms associated with consuming alcohol. 

The report, titled Living Well, Drinking Less: Reducing Alcohol-related Harms in B.C., found that alcohol is a leading cause of preventable death, injury and disability, and contains updated information about alcohol consumption from a healthcare perspective. 

“When it comes to drinking alcohol, less is best,” said Dr. Henry. 

“Drinking less alcohol is better for overall health, as has been confirmed by research and alcohol guidance in Canada.”

She added that the BC government has a key role to play in addressing factors that shape drinking behaviour through policy shifts.

The report compares BC’s alcohol consumption habits to the rest of Canada, with trends showing that British Columbians drink less alcohol than in recent years.

However, as of 2023, BC residents consume an average of 8.8 standard drinks per week, which is higher than the national average of 8.2. 

According to Dr. Henry, the recommended number of standard drinks an adult can safely consume is just one to two standard drinks per week.

The report also found that in BC, senior men, above the age of 65, consume the most alcohol with an average of 15 standard drinks per week.

Senior men also have higher rates of alcohol-attributable deaths and hospitalizations than the rest of the population. 

That said, alcohol consumption has reached a 20-year low in the province, following a surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We’re seeing a shift toward lower overall alcohol use, which is encouraging from a health perspective,” said Dr. Martin Lavoie, deputy provincial health officer. 

“But people in BC are still drinking more than the national average. That’s why it’s important to keep focusing on population-level measures like helping people understand the health impacts of alcohol, so they can make informed choices.”

Dr. Henry also found in her research that youth are not drinking as much as they have historically and are first trying drinking later in life. The report found that 38% of youth between the ages of 12 and 19 have tried alcohol.

When looking just in BC, Island Health has some of the highest drinking rates, along with the Interior and Northern healthcare jurisdictions. 

Dr. Henry says that people living in those regions are more likely to die from alcohol-attributable causes than those living elsewhere in the province.

Recommendations for government policy have been identified based on the report’s findings. 

These recommendations focus on raising awareness of the health risks of alcohol and implementing changes at the point of sale. 

Some examples include requiring warning labels on packaging and adjusting the price of alcohol so that it is based on alcohol content rather than volume. 

Further, the report’s findings suggest that the Province develop a strategy that prioritizes reducing health harms from alcohol.