‘Tipping’ the balance with alcohol

In April Slimming World launched a new report called ‘The missing link between alcohol and obesity: how passing a tipping point can impact on weight’ 

The report, which was based on new research with YouGov, looked at how alcohol can impact on our lifestyle choices. It revealed that drinking past a personal ‘tipping point’ (typically around nine units of alcohol) caused people to consume an extra 6,300 extra calories in food and alcohol over the next 24-hours, while also leading to the cancellation of  physical activity plans the following day and a poorer quality sleep.

Our report recommended that public health campaigns on alcohol should include a mention of how drinking too much can impact on our lifestyle choices and called for calorie labels to be added to alcoholic drinks.

The campaign made a huge splash in the media and was widely supported by politicians and health professionals. Public Health England, the British Nutrition Foundation and Drinkaware were among those commenting positively in the media and the story was covered by BBC News Online, The Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, The Sun, the Daily Express, the Metro and was the top health story on the Mail Online. Slimming World’s Head of Nutrition and Research, Dr Jacquie Lavin enjoyed a 5-minute interview with Chris Evans on his Radio 2 Breakfast Show and on Sky News Radio, while GP magazine Pulse featured it at the top of their round-up of the week’s big health news.

More than 70,000 people took our online quiz to find their own personal tipping point and how it could be impacting on their weight, with 22,000 going on to access our expert tips on the website.

Campaign evaluation by YouGov showed that the story was seen by 29% of the UK population. Of those, 36% said it led to them thinking about how alcohol could be affecting their weight and 23% say they now drink less as a result.

We have now begun a dialogue with Ministers, politicians and public health bodies about the risks that alcohol can pose to people’s weight and how our recommendations would help to reduce this impact. Slimming World Consultants are encouraged to raise members’ awareness of the impact of alcohol on weight management as a result of the campaign. Leaflets with more information about alcohol and its impact on weight along with tips and ideas for how to drink in moderation are available for members and the general public.