Indeed, alcohol is the drug of first choice for most Belizeans. A global survey by the World Health Organization which was launched last week in Europe shows that Belizean drinkers consume large volumes of alcohol. Spread across the entire population, consumption is quite low in comparison to other countries, but it is trending up sharply. From 2003 to 2008, the average consumption for persons 15 and older was 5.3 litres of pure alcohol per year - that's about 12 pints. But for 2008 to 2013, it was up to 6.8 litres, about 14 pints. And while that is the average, the study found that among drinkers, consumption was very high - meaning there's a lot of binge drinking, or what would be called, sprees. Male drinkers 15 and older consumed 67.8 pints of pure alcohol, and females of that same age, about 44 pints. Amongst drinkers that's the highest rate we saw in the Caribbean and Latin America - and it is twice or three times the figure seen in some other countries of the region. We asked Vellos about this worrying outcome today:
Esner Vellos, Director - National Drug Council
"Whereas a global level Belize is just a small percentage in terms of the overall global consumption of tobacco, but when we zoom it into the consumption trends in Belize, our people consume a lot of alcohol. At the same time when you look at a consumption per capita basis where it is high then that means that as a country we need to do more to be able to educate our people in terms of the risks of consuming alcohol. Another trend that we have also been seen is the increase of fetal alcohol syndrome in the country of Belize and that is very much alarming because we are now seeing that the kids are born with alcohol in their system. It's something that as a country we need to emphasize the need of making the right choices in terms of consumption of alcohol."
The study found that 68% of what is consumed is beer.
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