We Scottish as a nation love a good drink, no denying it. Some take it too far, too often. Resulting in what’s known as binge drinking. This can lead to all sorts of diseases and cancers affecting the liver, the organ that takes out all the toxins in what we eat. If it gets too stressed and collapses, it could easily terminate the host of the damaged liver. Whilst it may damage the consumer, he/she can damage others physically. In 2011, 50% of street crimes were commited as a result of intoxication. Alcohol over-consumption caused 30% of sexual offences in 2011. Whilst the adults may find it acceptable to hurt themselves, they have no idea of the influence they have upon the next generation. So bad that binge drinking is most common in 16-24 year olds. Be it at parties or out on the street, in some cases “just for the hell of it”. It’s also hurting the government’s pocket too, whilst we may not sympathise for the government directly, they are having to cut funds to other departments such as education to feed into the NHS purely for alcohol abuse. It is costing an estimated £6 billion per year to treat alcohol abuse. Be it operations or prescriptions or rehabilitation. That’s 12% of the NHS’ annual budget. It has came to the government that something needs to change and they have since banned drinking in public places, increased the minimum purchasing age and are planning to introduce a highly controversial “Minimum price per unit” scheme which in itself is a whole entire subject.
Unfortunately the list goes on... Smoking is another problem in Britain’s society. As bad as, if not worse, than the two previous issues combined. Globally, around 5.5 trillion cigarettes are produced each year. On average, roughly 15 billion are sold worldwide daily, 2 billion of which are purchased in the UK. Not really a statistic to be proud of. It’s also disgusting for others aesthetically. Last year, 1,971,551 cigarette buds were picked up by the Ocean Conservancy from underwater. This must be a fraction of what is picked up on land. Which in turn is a fraction of what still lies on it today. Albeit litter is a problem but it doesn’t really concern us health-wise. It is unfortunate that yet again, the children must be brought into this. Passive smoking kills well over 165,000 per year. Another 435,000 are adults killed by passive smoking. The figure has decreased over the last few years. Primarily when the smoking ban in public places was introduced. New bills are being pushed through to allow workmen to refuse to enter the house to repair anything if it is filled with smoke from cigarettes. Also, smoking inside your own car being made illegal and punishable by a fine is another bill also being pushed through parallel to the first one.
Social class is the main overall factor that affects anyone’s lifestyle. The claim that individuals and groups with different levels of income and wealth should be expected to have different attitudes appears in many different places. A meta-analysis of 35 studies found that social class is related to social integration among students in higher education: Working-class students are less focused than middle-class students. This relation averaged across students' gender and year of study, as well as type of social class measure.
Middle-class people generally have healthier diets than lower-class people. Considerations that underlie choices of foodstuffs may explain this class difference in eating habits. Studies on food beliefs show that lower-class mothers consider health less frequently in their choice of food, while they take the preferences of family members and expenses more often into account than their middle-class counterparts. Middle and upper class mothers considered health more often and costs less often than lower-class mothers when shopping for food. However, regression analyses indicated that these considerations scarcely explain class patterns in food consumption.
Whilst health plays a large factor in lifestyle, some are born into it. They may come from “schemes” or poor areas and be sucked into that life with peer pressure. Most times it is influenced by parents who are often alcoholics or drug addicts. Obesity, smoking, drinking and money all contribute to how a person lives their life. Some things we cannot choose but most we do. This as a nation, and a society needs to stop. If this goes on, what could happen to us as humans?
