History of alcohol consumption in Canada
History of alcohol consumption (AC) can date back to prehistoric period and was best known for leisure use (Hanson, 2013). A World Health Organization (WHO) report (2014b) showed Canadian had a total alcohol per capita (TAPC) 9.8 Litre in 2003-2005 and 10.2 Litre in 2008-2010, with beer being the most popular choice. The prevalence of heavy episodic drinking in 2010 is 17.8% in the general population versus 23.1% in drinkers, more often in male drinkers. Furthermore, government data showed 76% Canadian reported AC in the past year and Quebec reported a highest percentage. It also showed 60% youth age 15 to 19 reported recent drinking. However, the heavy drinking rate started to decline since 2012 (Health …show more content…
These findings can benefit the alcohol policy development in Canada.
After comparing data and generating table 1 (WHO, 2014a), there are several findings relevant to the research topic: All four countries have similar alcohol control policies but varied in details. In terms of drinking age limits, Switzerland has the lowest age of 16 with lowest TAPC. In contrast, UK has the age limit of 18, same with Canada, but the highest TAPC and it reflected the highest heavy drinking rate among others. It might be related to the fact that Switzerland is the only country legally binding regulations on alcohol advertising/alcohol sponsorship/sales promotion in combination of a national monitoring system, which were not found in the UK; USA is the only country legally required health warning labels on alcohol advertisements/containers but lack of any legally binding regulations. That might contribute to a higher TAPC than Canada; Canada has been the only country without a written national
History of alcohol consumption (AC) can date back to prehistoric period and was best known for leisure use (Hanson, 2013). A World Health Organization (WHO) report (2014b) showed Canadian had a total alcohol per capita (TAPC) 9.8 Litre in 2003-2005 and 10.2 Litre in 2008-2010, with beer being the most popular choice. The prevalence of heavy episodic drinking in 2010 is 17.8% in the general population versus 23.1% in drinkers, more often in male drinkers. Furthermore, government data showed 76% Canadian reported AC in the past year and Quebec reported a highest percentage. It also showed 60% youth age 15 to 19 reported recent drinking. However, the heavy drinking rate started to decline since 2012 (Health …show more content…
These findings can benefit the alcohol policy development in Canada.
After comparing data and generating table 1 (WHO, 2014a), there are several findings relevant to the research topic: All four countries have similar alcohol control policies but varied in details. In terms of drinking age limits, Switzerland has the lowest age of 16 with lowest TAPC. In contrast, UK has the age limit of 18, same with Canada, but the highest TAPC and it reflected the highest heavy drinking rate among others. It might be related to the fact that Switzerland is the only country legally binding regulations on alcohol advertising/alcohol sponsorship/sales promotion in combination of a national monitoring system, which were not found in the UK; USA is the only country legally required health warning labels on alcohol advertisements/containers but lack of any legally binding regulations. That might contribute to a higher TAPC than Canada; Canada has been the only country without a written national