Alcohol consumption increases during the pandemic, says survey

Abusive consumption of alcoholic beverages was reported by 18.8% of Brazilians interviewed in the survey. (Credit: Playback/Pixabay)

A survey carried out by the Brazilian Liver Institute (Ibrafig) shows that 55% of the Brazilian population is in the habit of consuming alcoholic beverages, with 17.2% of them reporting increased consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic, associated with anxiety. serious because of social isolation.

According to the survey, one in three people in the country consumes alcohol at least once a week. Abusive consumption of alcoholic beverages was reported by 18.8% of Brazilians interviewed in the survey. The data were collected based on the response of 1,900 people, spread across the five regions of the country.

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The study also shows that, on average, Brazilians ingest three doses of alcohol per occasion, which represents 450 ml of wine or three cans of beer. For the specialist in diseases and liver transplants, Liana Codes, the consumption of the Brazilian population is above that recommended by health agencies.

Data from the Center for Information on Health and Alcohol (CISA) also detail that abusive consumption of alcohol is growing in Brazil, particularly among women. According to the study, females are ‘more likely’ to develop cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis.

Also according to Cisa, liver cirrhosis has surpassed the number of deaths from drunk driving and has become the leading cause of death attributed to alcohol in the country. While liver problems accounted for 18.5% of deaths attributable to alcohol use, traffic accidents accounted for 16.4% of these deaths.

“In the last year, there has been a trend of increased consumption among females. Women are more likely to develop cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis for physiological reasons. The use of more than a standard dose of alcohol per day can trigger liver disease”, highlighted the president of Ibrafig, Paulo Bittencourt.