As it begins the “January challenge” (Dry January)of which he is one of the initiators in France, Mickael Naassila, president of the French Society of Alcoholism (SFA), regrets that “health professionals too rarely ask questions about alcohol consumption”. Professor of physiology at the University of Picardie (Amiens) and neurobiologist of alcohol addiction at Inserm, he recalls the many health benefits of abstinence.
What are the effects of the “January challenge” on alcohol consumption?
The operation, which consists in stopping, or at least reducing his alcohol consumption, works very well. Institutions and cities support us. Remember that it was created in England in September 2013. In France, it is the fourth edition. About 10% of French people participate, according to polls. As of January 2022, there have been 15,000 downloads at the Try Dry app [qui accompagne les participants du « défi de janvier »], an increase of 15%.
There is often confusion, the “January challenge” campaign is aimed at abstinence, of course, but it can also be to reduce alcohol consumption. The challenge is to raise awareness about the level of consumption. It is neither moralizing nor hygienist.
Several English studies have shown an effect on the frequency of consumption. One of them measured that seven out of ten people consumed less alcohol six months after this challenge.
Where are the alcohol consumption figures?
Although consumption has been falling since the 1960s in France, the country is nevertheless one of the leading OECD countries that drink the most, with 10.5 liters of alcohol per year for people aged 15 and over, according to the last survey by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends published in December 2022. These averages do not reflect the distribution between those who do not drink at all, and others who drink a lot.
Consumption has been on a downward trend since the health crisis, but these figures should be interpreted with caution. There is also a slight decline in the use of care in a hospital structure with a primary diagnosis related to alcohol, acute intoxication and alcohol-related liver disease. The number of beneficiaries of treatment for alcohol dependence also fell slightly by 6.8% (to 175,139 beneficiaries, excluding baclofen). These trends are to be taken with caution in view of the difficulties of continuity of care during the pandemic and the difficulties encountered by addictology structures.
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