Obesity is a leading cause of preventable deaths in the UK. At Nesta, we are committed to halving obesity through small but sustained changes to the nation’s health. Diet is key to this – and what you drink is part of your diet. This blog explores the contribution of alcohol to our diets and considers policies the government could pursue to help reduce alcohol-related harm while supporting healthier diets.

Alcohol contributes a small but significant proportion of “discretionary” or empty calories to people’s diets. 

Alcohol accounts for around 5% of calories purchased by adults in the UK, based on our new analysis. Breaking this down, alcohol comprises about 5% of calories purchased by adults for consumption at home, and ~8% of calories purchased outside the home. In real terms, 5% of daily calories equates to around 140 calories – the same as a standard 175ml glass of wine.

That might not sound like much, but small changes in diet can make a significant difference at a population level. Nesta’s analysis suggests that reducing daily intake by around 200 calories per person for those living with excess weight could help halve obesity by 2030. Cutting out alcohol entirely isn’t realistic or necessary to reduce calories. But modest reductions in alcohol consumption could contribute to healthier diets and improved public health.

Alcoholic drinks are calorie dense. The majority of these calories come from ethanol (the alcohol itself), which doesn’t provide any nutritional value. The true impact of alcohol consumption  on diet is likely to be slightly higher than our estimate, as we don’t include mixers that are often consumed alongside alcohol. The share of calories from alcohol will also be higher if we exclude households that don’t drink. External estimates suggest this could be up to 7-8% of all adult drinkers’ total energy intake.

People don’t usually eat less to offset the alcohol calories they drink, leading to higher total intake. There is limited evidence on how exactly alcohol affects appetite. It may lower restraint around eating and reduce feelings of fullness, leading to overeating while drinking. Alcohol may also affect the brain’s reward system, reducing control of food intake. 

We’ve estimated alcohol’s contribution to calorie intake using data on alcohol bought in shops (alcohol to take away or drink at home). Since there is no granular data available for alcohol purchased to drink outside of the home (eg, in bars or restaurants), we’ve scaled our figures based on the proportion of volume of alcohol drunk at home versus out of home. We recognise there are individual differences in alcohol consumption by gender and age, but our statistics are derived from household-level survey responses.

Alcohol is a harm in its own right. People from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and those who drink the most face the greatest harms. 

Harmful levels of alcohol consumption are a growing public health concern. In 2021, 5.7% of all hospital admissions in England were linked to alcohol in some way. While excessive drinking poses risks for anyone, two groups experience the highest alcohol-related harms: those who consume the most alcohol and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Alcohol’s effects are dose-dependent. The more a person drinks, the greater the harm. Among households that purchase alcohol, the share of calories from alcohol varies widely in our data, from close to 0% to over 14% of calories purchased to consume at home. Households that consume more calories from alcohol face a higher risk of harm, while drinking within medical guidelines is less risky. But alcohol-related harm is not just about how much people drink.

The ‘alcohol harm paradox’ shows that less affluent people experience the most harm, even though they drink less on average. Alcohol-specific mortality in the most deprived tenth of upper tier local authorities was double the rate in the least deprived tenth. 

Our analysis supports this. Households from lower socioeconomic status: 

1. buy fewer calories from alcohol, and 
2. have a greater proportion of households that buy no alcohol at all. 

These purchase patterns do not fully explain why less affluent households face the greatest harm.

One caveat is that households from lower socioeconomic status tend to buy a greater proportion of spirits and ciders compared to others. Spirits are more calorific, and their true calorie impact is likely even higher since they’re often mixed with sugary drinks. This means our estimates of alcohol’s calorie contribution may be particularly underestimated for households that consume more spirits. Spirits and beer might be linked to increased visceral fat, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. This could increase the harm households from lower socioeconomic backgrounds face, even if they purchase less alcohol overall.

The harms associated with drinking might compound and interact with socioeconomic status and multiple risk factors such as obesity. Poorer diets, higher obesity rates and greater rates of chronic conditions could leave these communities more vulnerable to alcohol-related harms. 

This worsens health inequalities, when there is already a 18-year healthy life expectancy gap between local areas in England. Local authorities with higher levels of income deprivation see higher rates of adult obesity and alcohol-specific deaths. Obesity rates are significantly higher in the most deprived areas (35.9% compared to 20.5% in the least deprived). Efforts to reduce wider health inequalities should include reducing the harms from alcohol to improve health and protect the most vulnerable communities.

Taking action on harmful drinking requires political will and perseverance. Reducing excessive alcohol consumption can help narrow health inequalities. We believe the aim of alcohol policy is not to stop drinking altogether but to support small changes in drinking habits across the population and limit or prevent harmful, excessive drinking.

The UK government has taken some steps to limit harmful drinking, like increasing alcohol duty and restricting advertising of alcohol. But further progress on policies such as Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) has stalled in England. MUP sets a minimum price per unit of alcohol, stopping it from being sold too cheaply. Scotland and Wales have already put MUP in place. 

Policies to improve diets have also been introduced in the UK, but often leave out alcohol. Including alcohol in food policies could help create a more cohesive approach, while also having some impact on reducing alcohol-related harms and calories. Joined-up policy can signal the government thinks unhealthy foods and alcohol are both harmful, strengthening the public health message.

Boldest action would focus on alcohol duty rates or introducing Minimum Unit Pricing in England. 

MUP is expected to reduce alcohol-related harms, and the evidence in favour of implementing MUP in England is strong. Overall alcohol consumption and alcohol-related hospital admissions have declined in Scotland after the introduction of MUP, especially in more deprived areas. This suggests MUP could also have a positive effect on health inequalities in England. 

A secondary benefit of MUP would be the impact on obesity, given alcohol’s small but significant contribution to calories.

MUP could help shift consumption to lower-strength drinks, which have fewer calories. It can reduce sales of cheap, high-strength spirits like budget vodka, as seen in Wales. MUP also led to a small but significant reduction in sugar derived from alcohol, especially for those who drink more. Encouragingly, a review found no major negative commercial impact from MUP on Scotland’s alcohol industry.

MUP only affects alcohol sold below the minimum price, such as alcohol sold in supermarkets and shops. Alcoholic drinks sold in pubs or restaurants would not be impacted, as they are mostly priced well above the minimum price. For example, a pint sold in a pub at £4.50 above the minimum price of 65p (current floor in Scotland) would not face price increases, protecting local pubs and bars. The share of alcohol consumed at home has been rising, meaning MUP will target a greater proportion of alcohol purchases and associated harmful drinking. 

England could consider implementing a differentiated MUP based on alcohol type. This might mean a higher minimum price for spirits that have high alcohol content and potentially greater associated health harms, rather than a fixed price per unit of alcohol. Rates could be informed by the alcohol duty system, which applies different rates for different types of alcohol.  

Unlike a tax, MUP doesn’t generate government revenue. It’s worth noting that MUP is different from alcohol duty, a tax paid by alcohol producers, and value added tax (VAT), both of which already exist in the UK. Recent alcohol duty changes have simplified tax bands, charging higher rates for stronger drinks instead of varying rates by drink type. The duty ratings also aim to shift purchases through higher taxes on strong cider from off-licences but lower taxes on draught cider in pubs. 

However, modelling suggests a 28% increase in taxes is required to have the same impact as a 50p price floor under MUP, which is untenable. Additionally, MUP benefits less affluent people the most, unlike a duty which is regressive. 

The duty system being automatically uprated to at least keep in line with inflation going forward, as was done in 2023, is a sensible option. Revenue generated from alcohol duty could be earmarked to help fund more acute alcohol treatment services.

Alternatively, the government can focus on smaller changes to include alcohol in food policy. 

Make nutritional and health risk labels mandatory on alcoholic beverages 

Alcohol packaging is not legally required to show nutritional information, unlike food. A bottle of wine from the supermarket won’t tell you how many calories it contains unless the manufacturer chooses to include it.

Expanding mandatory nutritional labelling to all alcohol, including low-alcohol alternatives, would be a sensible option, given it is a requirement for food. Based on our blueprint for halving obesity, nutritional labelling should be included on the front of retail packaging to help consumers find, understand, and make decisions about healthy consumption.  

People tend to underestimate the calories in alcohol. Adding calorie labels could encourage lower consumption (though the effects are likely to be small). It’s also a politically viable move: 51% of people surveyed supported alcohol nutritional labelling. However, awareness of calorie labels tends to be higher among outlets in more affluent areas. A health warning could help close this gap by promoting broader awareness, particularly for households from lower socioeconomic status.

Restrict alcohol advertising online and in public spaces

Current advertising restrictions mean alcohol cannot be advertised to those under 18 and should not promote excessive or antisocial drinking. The restrictions do not cover where advertising can be placed. There are also gaps around alcohol advertising online and in public spaces. 

New advertising regulations are due to come into force in October 2025 banning the advertising of less healthy food and drink online and on TV before 9:00pm. Including alcohol in these restrictions would help limit exposure, particularly for young adults and children.

Local authorities could be supported to restrict outdoor alcohol adverts, in line with existing efforts to limit unhealthy food marketing. Research shows a link between exposure to less healthy food advertising and increased prevalence of obesity, which could be theoretically true for alcohol as well.   Public support exists for tighter rules: a 2021 YouGov poll found that 54% of respondents favored restricting alcohol ads in outdoor and public spaces.

Such action could disproportionately benefit areas of higher deprivation that typically experience greater harms from health inequalities, including alcohol. Deprived areas have a higher prevalence of advertising for unhealthy products, including alcohol. Alcohol marketing is also linked to earlier drinking among young people and higher consumption levels, suggesting ad restrictions can help reduce harmful drinking.

Local authorities use powers to limit shops from selling alcohol in new venues 

Licensing laws in the UK focus on controlling the legal availability of alcohol, such as preventing sales to under-18s and limiting availability at certain times of the day. Food policy at national and local level has similarly used planning powers to limit hot food takeaways from opening near schools. 

In Scotland, licensing authorities can only refuse applications if they believe there is an overproliferation of licensed venues in the given area. In England and Wales, local authorities can reject new licences if they believe the cumulative impact of additional licenses would undermine licensing objectives such as public safety or crime prevention.

While health is not currently included as an explicit priority under Cumulative Impact policies (CIP), some local authorities like Middlesbrough Council have implemented CIP to restrict new alcohol venues opening in the town centre. This can especially help tackle inequalities in areas experiencing higher alcohol-related health harms. Local health bodies can input into cumulative impact assessments, and may be well placed to help consider when licenses can be detrimental to public health or what alternate venues could open if a license to sell alcohol is refused. 

We would also encourage the national government to include public health as an explicit priority under CIP to provide statutory support to licensing authorities.

Alcohol contributes a small but meaningful number of calories to daily diets. Even small, sustained calorie reductions can help tackle obesity, so it makes sense to consider reducing alcohol when taking action to improve diets.

Reducing alcohol consumption across the population can help tackle rising health, economic, and social costs. Policy action can disproportionately benefit less affluent people who face the greatest alcohol-related harms. Alongside reducing more acute social and health harms from excessive alcohol consumption, reducing overall consumption can also help lower calorie intake across the population.

There are a range of policy options the UK, Scottish, and Welsh governments can take to reduce alcohol consumption and associated health inequalities. Measures like MUP, calorie labeling, stricter licensing, and advertising restrictions can improve health outcomes, particularly for those most impacted.

The authors would like to thank Harry Wilde for providing the analysis for this blog.