Do you drink too much?

There are ways to check your level, however. The test Balance is developed by AKAN Competence Center and is supposed to tell you which level of risk your alcohol habits are on.

Martin Svendsen and Morten Kjelling have both taken the test and they are less than impressed. The two students of digital media at the University of Oslo (UiO) think the test has too few answer options, and that the test does not allow them to answer precisely.

– I´m glad you caught me now during my exam weeks. If I had taken the test last week when I was in Magaluf, I think the outcome of the test would have been very different, says Svendsen right after he had completed the test, his result being yellow. This means he drinks more than what international health authorities recommend.

Wants to help and support

The test is supported by the Student Health Service and is available on the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo´s homepages. All you need to do is answer seven short questions about your alcohol habits. You get the result immediately.

– The test does not consider the fact that a person´s drinking habits can change from week to week, says Morten Kjelling.

Post doctor by the Norwegian Center for Addiction Research at UiO Håvar Brendryen is also responsible for the test. He says the goal is to reach out to the people who want to reduce their intake of alcohol.

– The point with Balance is that so many people as possible can take the test. We know that a remarkable part of the population drinks more than the health authorities recommends. We therefore want to reach out to the people who want to reduce their intake, and to support them enough for them to make it, says Brendryen.

– Insufficient

Brendryen admits that the test says nothing about the problems you might get from a high intake of alcohol. Seven questions are not enough to cover that field. According to Brendryen, however, that is not the goal of the test.

– The test says something about how high the risk is for a person to contract something, says Brendryen.

He underlines that the test is not made to create motivation among people, but to maintain an already existing motivation.

Made for the working life

After answering the questions you are immediately informed of which zone you belong to. The zones are green, yellow and red, based on the Norwegian authorities recommendations. Red indicates that the level of consumption might be risky if it is kept up. Yellow means that one cannot for sure say that the consumption is damaging, but one cannot say the opposite either. Green signifies a sensible intake of alcohol.

Balance is originally developed for the working life, but is also used by students. Sociologist and project leader Irene Prestøy Like says it is obvious that young adults drink more than older adults.

– The fact that students drink a lot is no shock whatsoever. While landing in the yellow or red zone for a 40yearold might be an uncomfortable situation, a student might think it is cool. Students are part of a culture and lifestyle in which it is normal to consume a lot of alcohol, says Prestøy Lie.

She says, however, that specific interviews have shown that many students do not find it fun to land in the yellow or red zone.

Are offered help

Everyone who takes the test are offered help and support to adjust their drinking habits. This offer is an online programme that goes on for 56 days, and then in a less intense follow-up period for ten months.

Brendryen says that few go on to the second part of the programme, but those who do will be helped to improve.

– Around eight percent of the test takers go on to part two of the programme, and they are encouraged to change their ways, says Brendryen. He says that the ones who end up in the top layer of the red zone are encouraged to print out their results and show them to a doctor.