NZ alcohol experts are worried about cheap sweetly flavoured alcoholic drinks...

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Alcohol experts are worried that cheap, sweetly flavoured alcoholic drinks sold in 1.25 bottles could kill young New Zealand drinkers and want them banned...






Typically, these flavoured drinks contain up to eight per cent alcohol, which is double the amount of a standard beer.



That means each 1.25-litre bottle contains the equivalent of 11 standard drinks.



Liquor Licensing Inspectors Institute president Murray Clearwater told reporters he bought two bottles of a raspberry lemonade called Big Foot for $15



The bottles contained enough alcohol to kill a person, he said.



He has called for a ban on the sugary beverages at the Alcohol Advisory Council's annual conference, which ends today, the New Zealand Herald reports.



Drug and alcohol counsellor Fialauia Toailoa-Amituanai said the sweet new drinks were encouraging Pasifika women to "leave the men behind in their drinking habits".



This leaves them open to risk of having brain-damaged babies ( fetal alcohol syndrome), she said at the conference.



But manufacturers have said bottles are clearly labelled as a "multi-serve pack" and should not be consumed by one individual. Distribution methods need toughening up - no individual mini bottles  of any alcohol should be sold.


Perhaps we need tougher liquor  licensing  laws to control the distribution of alcoholic drinks from off-license convenience stores, similar to other countries. Something has to be done before more young people die.

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Green thumbs have strong hands they say...




First published at Qondio:













Gardening provides enough exercise to keep older adults in good shape. And the benefits don't stop there, say researchers at Kansas State University.

"As we age, we lose hand strength," said Candice Shoemaker, an asssociate professor of human ecology at the university's Center on Ageing. "Taking cuttings, mixing soil, and potting cuttings involve a lot of hand work."



Older adults who are gardeners definately have better strength and pinch force.



As a man who had very strong hands most of his life, I agree with this finding that we lose hand strength as we age. I also agree that gardening can help in restoring some of this lost strength. Unfortunately I'm not much of a gardener, and will have to find another way to emulate the gardeners new found hand strength.


Acknowledgements: Peter Petterson