Appendices

 Appendix A

Canada's Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines

To prevent chronic disease such as some cancers and cardiovascular disease:

• Women - no more than 2 drinks a day and 10 drinks a week

• Men - no more than 3 drinks a day and 15 drinks a week

• Plan non-drinking days every week to avoid developing a habit

To reduct the risk of injury and harm such as alcohol-related injuries and violence:

• Women - no more than 3 drinks on any single occasion

• Men - no more than 4 drinks on any single occasion

Driving? Zero is best.

Pregnant? Zero is safest.

• Unlike products such as tobacco, alcohol can be consumed at a safe or "low-risk" level. Canada's Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines were developed to help reduce the risk of alcohol-related harm. These guidelines were based on the most current research available.All drinks are not created equal. If you choose to drink, follow the guidelines and know how much alc9ohol is in your drinks.
• Men and women do not metabolize alcohol the same, so the guidelines are different; however, both men and women are at risk of developing long-term health effects including certain chronic diseases if they drink beyond the guidelines.
• The benefits of alcohol have been over- estimated in the media and there are more risks than benefits associated with alcohol use.
• If all Canadian drinkers were drinking alcohol within the proposed guidelines, it is estimated that alcohol-related deaths would be reduced by approximately 4,600 per year.*
• Alcohol can harm the way the body and brain develop.
  • Youth should delay drinking
  • People under 24 should not exceed the daily and weekly limits

Disease Categories and Calculating Alcohol Attributable Fractions Definitions of Disease Categories:

1. Digestive diseases include cirrhosis, pancreatitis, and alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis.
2. Cancers include mouth and oropharynx cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, laryngeal cancer, breast cancers, and other neoplasms, which include in situ neoplasms, benign neoplasms, and other neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behaviours.
3. Neuropsychiatric conditions include alcoholic psychoses, alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence syndrome, and epilepsy.
4. Cardiovascular diseases include alcoholic cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmias, hypertension, esophageal varices and hemorrhagic stroke.

Alcohol Attributable Fractions for KFL&A area

The alcohol attributable fractions (AAFs) shown in Table 1 were calculated using sex specific relative risks⁹⁸ for 4 levels of drinking categories, as defined by Rehm et al., as well as the prevalence of drinking in the KFL&A area from the Canadian Community Health Survey Cycle 4.1 (2007-2008).¹⁰⁰

Greater Kingston Area Safe & Sober Community Alliance

KFL&A Public Health has a long history of working with community partners around the issue of alcohol and related harm. The Greater Kingston Area Safe & Sober Community Alliance is a local community partnership supported by KFL&A Public Health, that was formed in 1998. This partnership has been using a comprehensive health promotion approach to address alcohol misuse, focusing on awareness, education & skill-building, creating supportive environments, and policy.

In 2010 an Alcohol Strategy Working group was formed, with a primary focus on alcohol policy and creating supportive community environments that aim to reduce alcohol related problems and harm. This group has been instrumental in not only providing data for this report, but in supporting the writing process and overall direction and review. It is hoped that this information will assist in motivating and guiding key stakeholders in the development of a local Alcohol Strategy. The goal of this strategy will be to implement evidence-informed policies that will increase community health and safety, while at the same time reduce the financial burden of municipally funded services in dealing with alcohol-related problems.