A REVIEW OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: IMPLICATION FOR HEALTH EDUCATION

Abstract

Heavy uptake of alcoholic drinks contributes to social, health and psychological problem among individuals especially adolescents in the society. This paper focuses on alcohol consumption: implication for health education. Alcohol consumption is broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in mental or physical health problems. In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions are present: a person drinks large amounts of alcohol over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol. Alcoholic drinks come in multiple forms and contain differing amounts of pure alcohol (also called ethanol). The health risks associated with alcohol consumption can be short or long term. Some of the health problems it causes include cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, heart attack, atrial fibrillation, cancer, alcohol liver disease and cirrhosis, gallstones etc. Therefore, the implication for health education is that the following group of persons should totally avoid the consumption of alcohol including persons younger than age 21, pregnant or may be pregnant, driving, planning to drive, or participating in other activities requiring skill, coordination, and alertness, taking certain prescription or over-the-counter medications that can interact with alcohol, suffering from certain medical conditions, recovering from alcoholism or are unable to control the amount they drink etc. Therefore, this paper recommended amongst other that the ministries of health and non-governmental organizations at all level should mount intensive enlightenment campaigns through public talk to create more awareness on the need to bridge knowledge gap of alcohol consumption.