2024-01-09 07:00:21
Christmas and New Year are now behind us and with them the excesses often associated with end-of-year celebrations. Now is the time for good resolutions. What if you started by challenging yourself? Like that of Dry January 2024…
What is Dry January?
Dry January is a public health operation, not financed by the State, but by independent associations and organizations, and inspired by a British experiment carried out today in a dozen countries. In France, it is organized in 2024 for the fifth time. Dry January translates as “dry January”, and consists of stop all alcohol consumption throughout the month of January. Thanks to this operation, each year, millions of people mark a month of alcohol abstinence all over the world.
To know ! In parallel with Dry January, Damp January, or “wet January”, has been developing for several years. Instead of stopping drinking alcohol altogether in January, participants are asked this time to simply reduce their alcohol consumption. Insufficient or even counterproductive for many health professionals.
To help everyone who takes on the challenge, the Dry January organization provides them with an Internet site, where they can sign up to receive daily information and advice. They can also download from the site flyers, banners or practical guides, to be widely distributed around them. Finally, they can also download l’application mobile TryDry or exchange with other people on the Facebook support group dedicated to the event.
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A study in 2024 to assess the effects of Dry January
After 4 years of existence, the time had come to take stock of the positive effects of Operation Dry January. To achieve this, a study is launched for the first time in France in 2024, the “Janover” study. The participants of the operation will be able, if they wish, to complete several questionnaires, respectively in February, in April, then in July 2024. This study is carried out in collaboration by the Le Vinatier hospital center and the National Institute of Cancer.
The first objective of the “Janover” study is to identify the success factors of the Dry January challenge, that is to say what are the socio-demographic factors which determine the success or on the contrary the failure of a cessation of alcohol consumption in the month of January. Another objective of this scientific study is to evaluate the effect of Dry January on alcohol consumption in the following months and on well-being. In the United Kingdom, similar studies were carried out and confirmed the value of Operation Dry January. The results of the French study should be published by the end of 2024.
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Benefits especially by extending the shutdown beyond the month of January
For the fourth edition in 2023, more than 16,000 people registered on the site to participate in Operation Dry January. But it is also possible to participate without registering. Polls also suggest that many French people are interested in this period of abstinence from alcohol consumption. An IFOP survey conducted in 2023 indicated that a third of French people planned to participate in Dry January, a proportion which rose to 50% among 18 to 35 year olds.
Since 2013, scientists have been evaluating the beneficial effects of Dry January on the health and well-being of participants. The expected benefits are improved skin health, better sleep, money savings and better health. Benefits confirmed by the participants themselves. According to a study conducted by the University of Sussex, 71% say they sleep better during Dry January, 88% say they save money and 80% feel able to better control their alcohol consumption at the end of the month. January. Because, if the effects of a single month of abstinence from alcohol can be questionable, the interest of such an operation is to trigger the health benefits of more moderate, or even very reduced, consumption of alcohol. alcohol in the long term.
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Written by Alexana.A, Scientific Journalist. Updated by Estelle B. Doctor of Pharmacy on January 9, 2024.
Sources
– Take a one-month break from your alcohol consumption.dryjanuary.fr. Accessed January 8, 2024.
– JANOVER: a scientific investigation into Dry January! dryjanuary.fr. Accessed January 8, 2024.
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