Alcoholic beverages

Last updated on 1-8-2025 by Isabelle Moyersoen

Why do we study the consumption of alcoholic beverages according to guidelines?

A balanced diet plays an important role in maintaining and promoting health. The Superior Health Council provides food-based dietary guidelines tailored to the Belgian population, aiming to reduce illness, premature death, and the overall disease burden caused in part by unhealthy eating habits.
The consumption of alcoholic beverages is associated with an increased risk of several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, cancer and mental health problems. Any protective effect of moderate consumption remains controversial and highly dependent on individual factors and confounding variables.
The Superior Health Council recommends, in its new 2025 recommendations, that adults do not drink alcoholic beverages, as there is no safe lower limit below which alcohol consumption does not have adverse health effects. If alcohol is consumed, it is recommended to limit intake to no more than 10 standard units of alcohol per week, spread over several days of the week, while also including a number of alcohol-free days.

How do we study the consumption of alcoholic beverages?

Trained interviewers conducted two non-consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls to record all the foods and drinks participants had consumed on the previous day. These recalls were carried out in a standardised manner using a specialised computer program (GloboDiet®).
The intake of alcoholic beverages was assessed as habitual intake (also known as usual or long-term intake), representing the average daily intake over the long term. This method accounts for natural day-to-day variations in what and how much people eat, offering a more accurate picture of typical dietary habits over time. This is particularly important when evaluating whether a population meets dietary recommendations. All intakes mentioned in the results below refer to the mean habitual intake, unless stated otherwise. It is also important to note that the intake refers to the amount of alcoholic beverages consumed (in ml/day), rather than the intake of pure alcohol or the number of standards units or glasses of alcohol.
The statistical tool Statistical Program to Assess habitual Dietary Exposure (SPADE) was used to estimate habitual intake distributions based on the short-term data collected through the 24-hour dietary recalls.
Respondents completed a food frequency questionnaire: they were asked to indicate how often they consumed a specific food or food group in the last 12 months. The response options were: Never, less than 1 time per month, 1-3 times per month, 1 time per week, 2-4 times per week, 5-6 times per week, 1 time per day, 2-3 times per day, more than 3 times per day.
The proportion of the adult population who report never drinking alcoholic beverages was assessed to evaluate adherence to the new dietary guideline. However, adherence to the recommendation of limiting intake when alcohol is consumed was not evaluated.
The detailed methodology can be found here.

What did we include as “alcoholic beverages”?

Based on the recommendation of the Superior Health Council, “alcoholic beverages”:
- include all drinks containing alcohol, such as cocktails, wine, beer, liqueurs and spirits.

The proportion of the population that never drinks alcoholic beverages, was calculated based on the following food frequency questionnaire items (only asked to adults and adolescents):
- Wine (including cava, champagne and sparkling wine);
- Beer with alcohol;
- Strong spirits (whisky, cognac, etc.);
- Energy drinks mixed with alcohol (vodka-Red Bull, etc.);
- Alcoholic cocktails (Mojito, Cosmopolitan) and aperitifs (Porto, Martini, etc.);

KEY RESULTS

The adult population drinks on average 137 ml of alcoholic beverages per day

18% of the adult population never drinks alcoholic beverages

Men have a higher mean intake of alcoholic beverages (213 ml/day) than women (65 ml/day)

Adults with a low level of education are more likely to never drink alcoholic beverages (23%) than those with a medium (15%) or high level of education (11%)

Between 2014-2015 and 2022-2023, the mean intake of alcoholic beverages decreased from 193 ml/day to 144 ml/day, while the proportion of people who never drink alcoholic beverages increased from 15% to 19%