Worried health bosses say more than 185,000 people in Norfolk are drinking more than the recommended units of alcohol each week - with middle-aged men the most likely to do so.
And those figures have prompted public health leaders at Norfolk County Council to launch a campaign to encourage such drinkers to cut down.
County Hall's analysis also found an estimated 96,000 people in Norfolk binge drink, so public health bosses are keen to highlight the health risks around drinking too much and the benefits of consuming less.
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While there has been an overall decrease in the average amount people are drinking, it is heaviest in middle age, particularly among men.
So, a new campaign will specifically target men aged 40 to 75 who are in what council bosses describe as "the pre-contemplation phase" - not yet thinking about changing their drinking behaviour.
The NHS says illnesses people can develop after 10 to 20 years of regularly drinking more than 14 units a week include cancer, stroke, heart disease, liver disease and brain damage.
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Fourteen units is equivalent to six pints of average-strength beer or six medium (175ml) glasses of average-strength wine.
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The campaign was discussed at a meeting of county councillors on Friday, where Conservative county councillor Brian Long questioned why the target was middle-aged men, rather than younger people.
He said the perception from the streets of King's Lynn or Prince of Wales Road in Norwich, was that young people were doing more damage to themselves by drinking to excess.
But Paul Neale, Green county councillor said: "I thought it would be the late teens or early 20s which would be the big problem, but we went by the evidence base and it is not.
"There's a growing number of youngsters not taking too much alcohol."
The campaign, which will launch in February will cost £20,000 and will include posters and social media graphics detailing what 14 units equate to.
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