Eastern Health campaign hopes to curb excessive drinking in N.L.

When it comes to drinking alcohol, Newfoundland and Labrador is number one and a new health campaign is hoping to curb that tendency.

Eastern Health launched their Rethink that Drink campaign at Memorial University on Thursday. The effort is encouraging young people to be mindful of their drinking habits to ask just how much alcohol is in thatmixed drink and consume in moderation.

"Overconsumption of alcohol has become cultural in our province and many residents engage in harmful patterns of alcohol use at alarming rates," said Eastern Health CEO David Diamond in a statement.

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The campaign encourages mennot to drink more than three drinks per day, and four for a special occasion. For women,that drops to two drinks a day, and three on special occasions.

A needed message

Health officials launched their campaign at the University Centre, in the middle of Memorial's frosh week.And as Diamond remarked, you wouldn't have to go far to find evidence of overdrinking.

For many students, binge drinking has become almost like a rite-of-passage, according to Peter Cornish, the director of Memorial's student health and wellness centre.

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And Cornishsays it comes at a cost.

"[Students]aredropping courses, or they'refailing courses, or they're not able to get their work done on time, as a result of excessive alcohol use," Cornishsaid.

Overdrinking an unfortunate reality at universities

8 years ago

Duration 2:44

Memorial University's Peter Cornish says overdrinking is almost a rite-of-passage at universities. He says it comes with a cost.

Brad Yetman, a student and a volunteer at the centre, said overdrinking is something he and his friends need to work on.

"For a lot of people, it's just like when you get one drink, it just leads to two and three or four. Not a lot of people have that cut off," he said.

"It's something that I definitely want to change ... Just to ensure that my health is on the better end, and my academics don't take a hit."

Not everyone is on board.Chad Mercer, another student, also saidhis friends are blowing by the recommended drink limits. But he's not worried.

"No, it's usually just a good time."

N.L. leads

According to a 2012 study, people in Newfoundland and Labrador are more likely to exceed low-risk drinking guidelines thanin any other province.

TraceySharpe-Smith, who helped develop the Rethink that Drink campaign, saidit just follows that we have high rates of hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

"We start to think maybe those things are connected and we know that they are," she said."So we want to reduce both those short term and the long term risks."

Cornish notedthat binge drinking rates fell among students between 2008 and 2012. But ithas flatlined since then, and he saidit's time to open up the conversation.

"There's a lot of drinking games that are aimed at getting drunk," he said. "Well I think we could develop drinking games that are aimed at being safe."