2023-08-18 10:00:00
If you tend to abuse the drink, this application is for you! Tested on 1,770 students from Swiss Grandes Ecoles at the “problematic” alcohol consumption, it can help reduce alcohol consumption. The results of the study published in the BMJ Journal in August 2023 are promising: the researchers welcome “significantly lower alcohol consumption in the intervention group than in the control group” (source 1). After one year follow-upyoung people who used the app drank 10% fewer standard glasses per week. The number of binge drinking days per month was also reduced by more than 10%.
Concretely, in the application, the students might register their alcohol consumption, but also had access to various self-monitoring, motivational, and informational tools (calorie content of drinks, information sheets on the impact of alcohol on health, etc.).
However, one of the limitations of the study is precisely the self-assessment of alcohol consumption, which can lead to under-reporting.
Problematic alcohol consumption among young people
While alcohol is the 2nd leading cause of preventable death – following tobacco – alcohol consumption among young French people is particularly worrying. “In Europe, the prevalence of unhealthy alcohol consumption among college students ranged from 30% to 60%,” the study said. According to the government, the majority of 17-year-olds have already drunk alcohol.
© Interministerial Mission to Combat Drugs and Addictive Behavior
This is why innovative initiatives such as the application are a useful response to a major public health issue. Especially among young people for whom technological solutions are particularly suitable. “Interventions using information technology can be used to address this challenge because they have greater reach, are easier to implement and are more consistent than traditional face-to-face interventions, especially among young people,” the researchers say. So when on our phones?
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