Kiwis’ high ‘pre-loading’ figure spurs call for action

Expert says global drinking study results tie into binge culture issue among young

Kiwis have been revealed among the most prolific pre-loaders in the world when it comes to drinking — prompting a call for action by a leading alcohol researcher.

The research, published yesterday by Swiss and Australian researchers in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review, found that countries with higher levels of drinking in general — New Zealand’s prevalence of current drinkers was estimated at 79.5 per cent — also had a higher percentage of pre-drinkers as a result. The preloading group according to the study was put at 78.7 per cent of 1560 Kiwis surveyed.

The figure here was ahead of Australia (64.1 per cent of 1855), the United States (65 per cent of 3878) and the UK (75.3 per cent of 4763).

The authors said this suggested pre-drinking was affected by the same cultural tendency to drink that underpinned alcohol use in the general population.

The findings weren’t surprising to alcohol researcher Dr Nicki Jackson, executive director of Alcohol Healthwatch.

“New Zealand has one of the highest prevalences of pre-drinking behaviour — over three quarters of people between the ages of 16 and 35 — which is aligned to the prevalence that we have from smaller studies.”

Jackson said a big factor was the price difference between alcohol bought on-licence and off-licence.

“In New Zealand, where we have a high density of off-licence outlets, we know from research that where we have increased competition for off-licences then the prices come down and that increases opportunities to purchase alcohol at a very low price.

“And we are talking about buying [a ready-to-drink] and spirits-based drink for less than $2 each; and of course, young people who are very price-sensitive will often go for the cheapest option.”

Jackson believed New Zealand had to “take a stand” to increase the price of alcohol, especially within offlicence premises.

“We haven’t had any movement for a long, long time on this and we would like the same amount of attention that’s paid to cigarette tax