Benefits of having a ‘Dry January’

“DRY January” really does work because it focuses on positive ideas of good health rather than negative messages about drinking too much, a research project has found.

It said that people who give up alcohol for the weeks after New Year are inspired by the benefits it brings them in fitness, better mental health and a succession of good nights’ sleep – and not by grave warnings of the damage alcohol can do to them.

Ministers and officials should learn from the success of Dry January and think again about publiclyfunded health campaigns that highlight the bad effects for those who fail to cut down on drink, the analysts from Leeds University said.

“Health campaigns have traditionally focused on messages around the effects of alcohol, but

Dry January focuses on the positives to encourage people to become new, low alcohol versions of themselves,” said Dr Henry Yeomans, chief author of the report.

“It allows people to learn about themselves and feel as if they are better fulfilling their potential.”

Findings from the study, which was based on the responses of more than 2 500 social media users to promotions published by the Alcohol Concern charity, were published as an estimated 5 million people prepare to take part in the

Dry January exercise.

The idea has expanded in recent years and has now been taken up by alcohol charity campaigners.

The Leeds study said that followers are not interested in the charity fundraising often carried out by those who succeed in resisting alcohol for the month, but that they were motivated by personal benefits.

Participants talk about the quality of their sleep, their appearance, energy levels, weight loss, self-belief and their surprise at finding they have willpower, it said.

Yeomans, associate professor in criminology and criminal justice at the university’s law school, said that Dry January “makes a substantial impact on the lives of a great number of participants.

“It brings physical, psychological and emotional benefits in both the short-term and the long-term.

“Participants generally feel that they are gaining something rather than losing something by abstaining for one month.”