As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, and with it year-end banquets, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) on Friday said that “forcing others to play drinking games” topped a list of unacceptable ways to coerce others to drink.
The agency, citing an online list of unacceptable methods to convince others to drink alcohol, said that many traffic accidents are the result of people being forced to drink at year-end events.
The agency cited a list compiled by the Web site Daily View on the top 10 least-accepted ways of forcing others to drink, which placed at No. 2 telling partygoers that no one was leaving until they were drunk.
In third place was telling people to take “just a sip,” while in fourth place was forcing others to drink by promising to sign a business contract or deal, the agency said.
People polled by Daily View said that topping up their glass when they were not paying attention was unacceptable, which made it to No. 5 on the list, while in sixth place was continuously toasting a person to force them to imbibe, the agency said.
Arbitrarily calling someone a cab or requesting a designated driver to ensure they would continue drinking made it to No. 7 on the list, while No. 8 was insisting that a person finish every shot or glass of alcohol per round, it said.
In ninth place was topping up someone’s glass after every time they drank, while in last place was telling someone that if they did not drink with them, then they had disrespected them, the agency said.
HPA Acting Director-General Chia Shu-li (賈淑麗) said that drinking, along with smoking, a poor diet and lack of exercise are among the factors associated with an increased risk of cancer.
More than half of Taiwanese lack the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase, which is needed to process alcohol, she said, adding that without the enzyme, a person’s cheeks can become red while drinking.
“Excessive drinking can also increase the risk of a person developing dementia, as well as decrease the efficiency of their immune system,” she said.
Cheng Hsin General Hospital physician Tian Chih-hsueh (田知學) said that heavy alcohol consumption could lead to cirrhosis and increase the risk of liver, oral, esophageal, stomach and colon cancers, as well as breast cancer in women.
According to Taipei general Hospital physician Huang Ming-chi (黃名琪), men under the age of 65 should not consume more than two units of alcohol per day, or two cans of beer, while women should not consume more than one can of beer.
Huang said the government should require the labels of alcohol products to list the suggested daily intake limits, and expedite the passage of a draft alcohol consumption prevention act.
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