Hungarians still have many harmful habits: every tenth Hungarian man drinks every day

In terms of the total population, the proportion of heavy drinkers decreased. However, more than a tenth of men drink alcohol every day, writes Portfolio based on the results of the European population health survey.

• 6.3 per cent of the population consume alcohol on a daily basis,
• 19 per cent of the population consume alcohol at least weekly (but not daily),
• 21 per cent of people consume alcohol at least monthly (but less than weekly),
• 24 per cent of the population do not consume alcohol on a monthly basis,
• and 29 per cent of those surveyed do not drink alcohol at all.

There is a gender difference in the frequency of alcohol consumption. 39 per cent of women and 19 per cent of men never drink alcohol.

More than one-tenth of men (11%) and only 1.8 per cent of women drink alcohol daily.

In addition to frequency, alcohol consumption can also be characterised by quantity. Based on the quantity, we distinguish between the groups of heavy drinkers, moderate drinkers, infrequent drinkers, and non-drinkers. Consumption of more than 14 units (one alcohol unit is equivalent to a pint of beer, or 2 dl of wine, or 0.5 dl of spirits) of alcohol per week on average for men, while more than 7 units is considered heavy drinking for women. A significantly higher proportion of men are considered heavy drinkers (9.3%) and moderate drinkers (31%) than women (1.5% and 11%).

Interestingly, while the proportion of moderate drinkers in men increases with age, on the other hand, the proportion of heavy drinkers and moderate drinkers in women decreases with age.

Switching to the other harmful addiction, smoking, the proportion of smokers has decreased in the last 5 years. There have been positive changes in the field of smoking:

Between 2009 and 2019, the proportion of daily regulars or occasional smokers decreased.

The majority of men aged 18-64 smoke more on a daily basis than women of their age. For both adult men and women, the proportion of smokers on a daily and occasional basis decreases with age, and the proportion of people who quit smoking increases.

In most age groups, the proportion of smokers decreased for both men and women, regardless of frequency. The exception is the group of the oldest women, where the proportion of regular smokers has increased from the previous 7 per cent to 11.8 per cent, and among girls aged 15-17, it has increased from the previous 14 per cent to 16.4 per cent.

Source: portfolio.hu