CREDIT: FREDONIA.EDU


You probably have a pretty good idea of how much alcohol you drink in a typical week. But do you know how much money that's cost you or how many calories you've consumed in alcohol over the past 12 months?

Fanshawe's Check Your Drinking campaign, which runs from September 30 to October 11, is meant to inform students about different consequences of their drinking habits.

Jennifer Gillespie, Fanshawe's campus life facilitator, is organizing the campaign. “We want to educate as many people as possible so that they can make informed choices,” she said.

To do so, Fanshawe has signed up for its own Check Your Drinking survey. “It's an anonymous survey that students can take around their drinking habits,” Gillespie said. “The survey asks them some questions around their drinking habits and then at the end it will give them a report on their drinking habits and how they compare to people in their age bracket.”

The survey results list how many calories the respondent has consumed in alcohol and gives a food equivalent to those calories — for example, the total calories in the amount of drinks consumed in the past year equals 21 slices of pizza — and how much weight may have been gained from those calories. It also lists an approximate amount of money a student has spent on alcohol and gives an example of what could have been purchased with that money instead — such as an awesome spring break vacation.

“The survey also talks about where you fit in terms of the range of if you're a moderate drinker or if you're at risk for dependence,” Gillespie said. “It gives students that information so that they know more about their drinking habits and how their drinking impacts them.”

The survey can be completed for yourself or for someone else, and the data will be collected to give insight into Fanshawe students' drinking habits as a whole. “We'll be able to know specific information around our Fanshawe students. We'll be able to tell the students, as the survey gathers information, how they compare to the average Fanshawe student.”

Gillespie is spreading the word by setting up an information table from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Falcon House residence (R1 building) foyer on October 1 and 9 and in F Hallway on October 2 and 8. She'll have computers set up so passersby can complete the Check Your Drinking survey at her table — those who do will receive a voucher for a free coffee on campus.

Complete the survey online at fsu.ca/cyd.