Are we drinking too much?

One in four women worry about how much they drink Photo: Getty

How much do you drink? And more importantly how do you feel about the amount you drink?

According to a marie claire survey, one in four women “feel bad” about how much they drink or question the amount of alcohol they consume.

Meanwhile, most women (59 per cent) say they know someone who has a problem with alcohol.

The survey comes in the wake of the explosion in abstinence movements in Australia, such as Hello Sunday Morning - which has attracted 30,000 people since 2010 - and Dry July.

The marie claire survey of more than 500 women, by Acorn, found that most women drink “a few times a week” and the average woman claims to drink about six drinks each week.

However, binge drinking was fairly common - with 12 per cent of women saying they’d consumed more than 12 drinks in a single session in the past month.

When asked about why they drink alcohol seven in 10 women cited “social reasons”, while 48 per cent said they drink alcohol to relax after juggling work and family. More than a quarter of women say they drink to escape work stress.

Meanwhile, of the women who don’t drink alcohol, nearly half said is was because they didn’t like the taste; a further 37 per cent said they don't like being out of control and 14 per cent said they don’t drink because they don't want the extra calories.

For more on the survey - and to read stories from real women about their complicated relationship with alcohol, pick up the latest issue of marie claire.

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