Today-Dec 20
Young adults in Singapore were more likely to binge-drink compared to other age groups last year, the latest national population health survey found. The findings, released on Tuesday (Dec 20), showed that this was especially so among males who were between 18 and 29 years old. About one in five males in this age group were more likely to binge-drink compared to one in 10 among females in the same age group, the survey found. The latest survey, done through face-to-face questionnaires, was carried out from July 2020 to June 2021. The survey period coincided with the gradual relaxation of Covid-19 regulations over two phases after a partial lockdown ended on June 1, 2020. Binge-drinking was defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks for males, or four or more alcoholic drinks for females in any one drinking session during the month before respondents were polled. Smoking rates among male residents here also picked up last year, reversing a downward trend since 2010. At the same time, regular drinking among males went up markedly both in the long term, and over the course of the the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.The Ministry of Health (MOH), which conducted the survey, said in a press release on Tuesday that there is “a sustained trend of decreasing smoking rates” over the past decade, with figures dropping from 13.3 per cent in 2007 to 10.4 per cent last year among Singapore residents. The prevalence of binge-drinking also “remained stable” at 9.6 per cent last year, compared to 10.2 per cent in 2019, it added. TODAY reported before in The Big Read that some Singaporeans had turned to alcohol to cope with Covid-19 boredom and stress, in tandem with a global trend of “pandemic drinking” last year. The National Population Health Survey, which is conducted yearly, tracks the health and risk factors of Singapore residents aged 18 to 74. A total of about 8,000 adult residents here were interviewed for the survey, with the findings set against the backdrop of an ageing population and the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more at: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/genting-highlands-landslide-camping-malaysia-popular-singaporeans-safety-tips-2076226
