UK: Warning to mothers over risks of regular drinking

(HeraldScotland) - Scots mothers are to be targeted in a new publicly funded drive to make them aware of the serious dangers of habitual drinking.

Experts will step in at an early stage to help parents, who might open a bottle of wine in the evening, along with other groups of people who are vulnerable to alcohol addiction.

The £300,000 scheme in Glasgow will aim to provide support to shift workers, who often enjoy a drink after finishing their anti-social shifts, and white-collar professionals who may end a working day by uncorking a bottle of wine.

Other groups prioritised include the retired, as ceasing work coincides with an increase in habitual drinking, and young men aged around 18-25, whose cocaine use at the weekend is high, largely to enable them to keep drinking.

The UK-wide Addaction charity, which is receiving funding from Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board, aims to reduce the number of people who go on to need specialist treatment services.

It is taking a "whole-population" approach to the issue, providing so-called brief interventions to those who are drinking more than they should, to enable them to change before their alcohol use becomes a health problem.