ONS warn NekNominate drinking craze risks spike in alcohol deaths
A social media drinking game which has been linked to several deaths could reverse recent successes in cutting alcohol-related deaths, according to the Office for National Statistics.
NekNominate has been linked to the deaths of several men who were dared to down lethal quantities of alcohol whilst filming themselves via viral Facebook posts.
Five men have thus far been identified as victims of the craze, worrying statisticians who’ve already recorded an uptick in the number of accidental alcohol deaths in England and Wales from 396 in 2012 to 157 in 2007.
ONS researcher Olugbenga Olatunde said: “It is possible in the future we will get a lot more these deaths because of games like NekNominate.
“We are also seeing deaths from liver disease increasing and we are seeing it appearing in younger people, which suggest they are starting to drink from a younger age and are drinking stronger alcohol.”