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The statistics from studies done by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the UK Office for National Statistics indicate that men consume twice as much alcohol as women. The socio-economic differences were unimportant for men but were more pronounced with professional women drinking more than women employed in unskilled positions in the UK study.

In the US in 1992 26% of men were considered moderate consumers of alcohol having 4-13 drinks per week while 13.6% of all women consumed 4-13 drinks per week.

The UK study from 2000 indicated that men consumed 17.1 units of alcohol per week versus 7.1 units for women.

The NIAA study had 4 times as many males indicating they were heavier drinkers having 14 or more drinks per week than women. Women were also more likely to be abstainers than men. (Abstainers drank less than four drinks per year and light drinkers had 3 drinks per week.)

The results of these studies confirm an intuitive understanding of alcohol consumption by the sexes. Men can drink more because they are larger and weigh more than women and the effects of alcohol would tend lessen the amount of alcohol women would drink because of their smaller size.

As with most social sciences, research begets more research.

A cursory review of the literature regarding moderate alcohol consumption indicates that there are health benefits to be gained from light to moderate alcohol consumption related to lessened heart problems and stroke. Abstinence is not necessarily healthier than light or moderate alcohol consumption according to the statistics. The design of studies related to the use of alcohol should be reviewed carefully before recommendations are made by medical or counseling personnel.

The devil is and will always be in the details. The laws regarding alcohol consumption are different from place to place and the assumptions regarding the results of light or moderate drinking may have legal consequences. Operating an automobile after drinking is always a risk and individual metabolisms are not always average. Alcoholism or problems related to the use of alcohol at even a small level may impact certain individuals negatively. Alcohol use during pregnancy is also universally frowned up. Binges that are rare can also be very dangerous and what might be considered an overall small amount of drinking if concentrated in an hour can have serious effects.

While it would seem that you can trust statistics from large samples, there is also a possibility that individuals may not be entirely accurate or honest in their responses because of the view that alcohol use beyond a certain point is viewed negatively.

Moderation in all things would seem to be the prudent thing to do unless one is too many and one thousand aren't enough.

Learn more about this author, John Asgeirson.
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