Dry January
Dry January is a public health campaign urging people to abstain from alcohol for the month of January, practised in Europe and the US.
The campaign, as a formal entity, appears to be relatively recent, being described as having "sprung up in recent years" even in 2014.[1] However, the Finnish government had launched a campaign called "Sober January" in 1942 as part of its war effort.[2] The term "Dry January" came into more common usage in the 2000's when Nicole Brodeur of The Seattle Times wrote a column on her first Dry January motivated by a friend who had done the same for several years before.[3] The term "Dry January" was registered as a trademark by the charity Alcohol Concern in mid-2014;[4] the first ever Dry January campaign by Alcohol Concern occurred in January 2013.[5] In the lead up to the January 2015 campaign, for the first time Alcohol Concern partnered with Public Health England.[6]
In January 2014, according to Alcohol Concern, which initiated the campaign,[when?] over 17,000 Britons have stopped drinking for that month.[7] While there is controversy as to the efficacy and benefits of the practice, a 2014 survey by the University of Sussex found that six months following January 2014, out of 900 surveyed participants in the custom, 72% had "kept harmful drinking episodes down" and 4% were still not drinking.[8]
Dry January Switzerland was launched in 2021 by a broad coalition of non-profit organisations, including public innovation platform staatslabor, Blue Cross Switzerland and GREA.[9]
In some countries, such as the Czech Republic and Canada, Dry February (or Dry Feb) is campaigned instead.[10][11]
In the United States
A Morning Consult poll conducted from January 4–5, 2021, with 2,200 US adults found that 13 percent of American respondents were participating in "Dry January". This compared with 11% in previous years. 79 percent attributed the decision to being healthier[12] while 72 percent were trying to drink less alcohol in general; 63 percent said they wanted to "reset" their drinking, and 49 percent said they were drinking too much during the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
See also
- Fasting
- International Organisation of Good Templars
- Lent
- Teetotalism
- Temperance movement in the United Kingdom
- Dry July
References
- ^ "Government unveils first 'Dry January' marketing campaign". Marketingmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ ""Raitis tammikuu" (1942) oli tehokas propagandahyökkäys". viestijat.fi. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
- ^ Brodeur, Nicole. "A good time to dry up". Retrieved February 21, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Trademark information for DRY JANUARY from CTM – by Markify". Trademark.markify.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ "ALL ABOUT DRY JANUARY 2014". Mhealthylifestylemag.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ "Festive Drinkers Urged To Try 'Dry January'". LBC. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ "Abstinence after the boozing. Can you make it a dry January?". The Times. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ "BBC News – 'Dry January' linked to drinking less in long term". BBC News. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ "Eistee statt Kopfweh". dryjanuary.ch. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ "Zúčtuj v únoru s alkoholem!". suchejunor.cz. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ "About Dry Feb". Dry Feb 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ "How To Win At Dry January". Surely Dealcoholized Wines. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Meyers, Alyssa (January 8, 2021). "2020 Didn't Sap Americans' Appetite for Dry January". Morning Consult. Retrieved January 11, 2021.