Time to get off the beer bandwagon
QUEENSLANDERS are getting set to join a monthlong booze ban amid shocking statistics we are among the country’s worst drinkers.
Dry July, which encourages participants to give up alcohol for a month for charity, revealed Australians spend 91.5 million hours a month hungover.
The report said Queenslanders are the heaviest drinkers in the country, consuming two more drinks per week more than the national average with 12.8. The findings revealed:
One in five Aussie drinkers have taken more than one sick day in the past year due to being hungover.
21 per cent of Aussies have not gone for more than a week without drinking in the last five years.
52 per cent of Aussie drinkers have felt pressured to drink in social situations.
On average, Queenslanders (16.2 times) and South Australians (17 times) are hungover the most often (national average 11.7 times).
Gold Coast baristas Yandell Davis, 24, and Gracelyn Balzat, 19, have taken up the Dry July challenge to buck the trend.
“I’ll be very tempted. I don’t know if I have much self-discipline,” Ms Davis said.
“Especially working in hospitality – you serve alcohol all the time and people like going out for drinks after work.”
Dry July also revealed Queenslanders are the second most hungover with an average 16.2 days a month spent with a sore head.
Ms Balzat said the event was a positive for Australians.
“I don’t think Australia has a great drinking culture,” she said.
“But it’s good to prove to other people that you don’t need to drink.”