Greater availability of non-alcoholic beverages can reduce alcohol consumption.

According to a study published in the open access journal, people are more likely to opt for non-alcoholic beverages if they are more available than alcoholic beverages. BMC Public Health.

A team of researchers from the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Center and the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge, UK, found that when presented with eight drink options, participants were 48% more likely to choose a non-alcoholic drink when Non-Alcoholic Beverage Ratio Beverage options increased from four (50%) to six (75%). When the proportion of non-alcoholic beverage options decreased from four to two (25%), participants were 46% less likely to choose a non-alcoholic beverage.

Dr. Anna Blackwell, corresponding author, said: “Alcohol consumption is among the top five disease risk factors globally. Previous research has shown that increasing the availability of healthier food options can increase your selection and Consumption in relation to less healthy foods. Knowledge, this is the first study showing that increasing the availability of non-alcoholic beverages, relative to alcoholic beverages in an online setting, can increase your selection. “

Study participants completed an online task in which they were presented with a selection of alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic beer, and soft drinks. Beverage selections included four alcoholic and four non-alcoholic beverages, six alcoholic beverages and two non-alcoholic beverages or two alcoholic beverages and six non-alcoholic beverages. 808 UK residents with an average age of 38 who regularly consumed alcohol participated in the study.

When presented with mostly non-alcoholic beverages, 49% of the participants selected a non-alcoholic beverage, compared to 26% of the participants who selected a non-alcoholic beverage when presented with mostly alcoholic beverages. These results were consistent regardless of the time participants had to make their decision, indicating that the results did not depend on the amount of time and attention that participants were able to spend on their choice of drink. The findings suggest that interventions to encourage healthier food and beverage options may be more effective by changing the relative availability of healthier and less healthy options.

Anna Blackwell said: “Many licensed locations already offer several non-alcoholic options, but they are often stored out of direct view, for example, in low-level refrigerators behind the bar. Our results indicate that making these non-alcoholic products are more visible to customers you can influence them to make healthier decisions The market for alternatives to beer, wine and non-alcoholic spirits is small, but the growth and improvement of the selection and promotion of non-alcoholic beverages in this market They could provide an opportunity for authorized places to reduce alcohol consumption without losing income. “

The authors caution that as the study measured hypothetical beverage selection online, the results may differ in real settings. More studies are needed to determine how the relative availability of nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages affects the purchase and consumption of alcohol in real life.