Try it – don’t diet

Arabella Weir: These hard-won diet tips are simple: sit firmly on guilt and self-doubt, and set your own limits

New alcohol restrictions needed, say emergency doctors

A ban on happy hours and stricter drink-drive limits are among recommendations by the College of Emergency Medicine

Don’t take offence if we lecture you on how to stay alive and healthy

Steve Field: In an excoriating critique, Britain's leading GP says we, not the state, must take responsibility for our wellbeing

Britain faces drink, drugs and obesity health crisis

Figures show large jump in obesity as well as drink and drug-related deaths, although life expectancy continues to rise

Pregnant women who drink alcohol may reduce the sperm count of sons

Expecting mothers who consumed more than 4.5 alcoholic drinks a week were more likely to have sons with lower sperm counts

Cigarettes and alcohol and Obama

Richard Adams: A boilerplate note in Obama's medical check-up - mentioning 'moderation in alcohol consumption' - sets off bloggers

The worth of a pint

Richard Reeves: It's hard to quantify the social costs – and benefits – of drinking. Moral panic can offer no new solution

Binge drinking over New Year’s Eve could cost NHS £23m, says thinktank

Thinktank proposes that severely intoxicated people should pay the price – £532 – of their short-term treatment

Dangers of alcohol not a priority for parents

One in three parents do not talk to their children about the dangers of alcohol and are more concerned about unwanted pregnancies, car accidents and drugs, survey finds

Rules made to be broken

Andrew Martin: The figures show that a huge majority don't hit healthy targets. Can't we all just lower our sights?

Should parents introduce children to alcohol?

Tim Hayward wonders how we can best pass on our wisdom to a new generation

Men get health advice on tap

Project brings men's health services to the pub

I was ready to give up alcohol – until I read the latest research

Apparently, the more you drink the greater your protection against heart disease. Does that mean we should all be drinking at least a bottle of wine a day, asks Alexander Chancellor

Alcohol and pregnancy – conflict and confusion

Shouldn't pregnant women be afforded the right to exercise personal choice when deciding whether to drink alcohol? Have you ever felt the need to intervene to stop a pregnant woman drinking, and if so, why?

Student pub crawls face ban amid backlash over drunken disorder

The outrage after undergraduate Philip Laing urinated on a war memorial has led many student unions to bar Carnage, the firm that runs the drinking events