University students in Taiwan last year drank less alcohol than they did two years earlier, although one in seven still reported drinking excessively in the previous month, the results of a survey released last week by the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) showed.
The survey of university student health conducted last year showed that 38.45 percent of respondents had consumed alcohol in the previous 30 days, down from 44.2 percent in 2020, while 67.76 percent had a drink in the previous year.
The proportion of students who said they had drunk excessively — at least six drinks in one sitting — in the previous month fell from 20 percent in 2020 to 14.39 percent last year.
By gender, 16.42 percent of male respondents reported drinking excessively, compared with 12.61 percent of female respondents.
Asked when they usually drank alcohol, 72.79 percent of respondents said during get-togethers with friends, 41.1 percent said at family gatherings and 23.46 percent said when they were feeling happy, while 21.59 percent said they drank to reward themselves.
The WHO designates alcohol as a toxic, psychoactive and addictive substance, the HPA said in a statement releasing the survey results.
Ethanol, the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks, is also categorized as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, it said.
According to government recommendations, daily alcohol intake for men should not exceed 20 grams, or the equivalent of one can of beer, while women should limit their intake to 10 grams, the HPA said, adding that women should abstain from alcohol if they are pregnant or nursing.
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