apostrophized briney: Ottawans drink more than others in Ontario: Public health

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Ottawa Public Health has launched a war on booze abuse ahead of one of the largest binge-drinking days of the year.

The city?s health agency says it will beef up its education campaign against problem drinking in Ottawa.

?We are worried about alcohol as it?s the most commonly missed substance,? health promotion manager Sherry Nigro said Monday.

Nigro said public health?s announcement of the strategy ahead of St. Patrick?s Day this Sunday is ?more serendipitous than anything else.?

A new public health study found that alcohol leads to 970 hospitalizations and 110 deaths in the city?s adult population annually. About 63 infants are hospitalized each year because of low birth weight linked to alcohol use during pregnancy.

The study found that the drinking habits of Ottawa residents are consistently higher than the provincial average. Public health says one-quarter of adults and nearly three-quarters of young men reported ?heavy or binge drinking? in the past year.

Nigro said there isn?t information to explain why Ottawa?s drinking habits are worse, but she speculated there is more disposable income and the city is home to four post-secondary institutions.

One in three adults exceeded the recommended weekly limits in Canada?s low risk drinking guidelines, which are used as a health indicator in the province.

The guidelines recommend a maximum of 10 drinks a week for women with a maximum two drinks a day on most days. For men, it?s a maximum of 15 drinks a week with a daily maximum of three.

On special occasions ? and this is for all the St. Patty?s revellers ? the recommended maximums are three drinks for women and four drinks for men, while staying within the weekly limits.

A standard drink is considered to be a 12-oz. beer at 5% alcohol, 5-oz. wine at 12% and a 1.5-oz. shot at 40%.

Nigro said staff are seeing positive results with more young people delaying their initiation with alcohol.

The health board will receive a staff report on substance abuse next Monday.

According to the report, there are about 40 drug overdose deaths in Ottawa annually, plus another eight deaths attributed to drug-related infectious diseases.

The report describes various drug prevention initiatives and suggests strengthening harm reduction programs, like the clean needle exchange.

The report notes staff are monitoring the debate on safe-injection sites and ?has no plans to open such a site in Ottawa.?

Twitter: @JonathanWilling