Women’s Alcohol Intake on the Rise
Most of us think of men drinking alcohol more often and in larger quantities than women. In fact, previous research has shown that men consume more alcohol than women. However, recent new findings published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research by the National Institute of Health (NIH), show that women are actually increasing their alcohol intake; coming close to the amount of alcohol men.
Data, which provided information on alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use in the United States, was analyzed by members of the NIH from the 2002-2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The researchers specifically focused on studying the alcohol use of both men and women over the age of 12. Their drinking levels, binge drinking, drinking and driving and if they ever combined the alcohol intake with drug use were studied.
The findings of analyzing this data were significant. In fact, the levels of alcohol intake in women increased during the 10-year study period. The study showed that the number of women who reportedly consumed alcohol in the past 30 days increased from 44.9 percent in 2002 to 48.3 percent in 2012, and the number of days the women drank alcohol in the past 30 days increased from 6.8 days to 7.3 days. In contrast, the alcohol intake in men decreased from 57.4 percent in 2002 to 56.1 percent in 2012.
These results are interesting due to the fact that society might not have believed, due to previous stigmas about drinking and gender differences, that women’s alcohol intake is on the rise. Further, the findings are concerning due to the adverse health effects from alcohol on women–cardiovascular disease, for instance.