Gender divide closing in alcohol consumption

A global study of drinking habits, published in the BMJ Open, has claimed that the alcohol consumption gender gap is closing.

The analysis of four million people, born between 1891 and 2001, showed that the younger generation have closed the gap, with the changing roles of men and women in society partly explaining the move towards drinking parity.

Previous records stated that men used to be far more likely to drink and therefore have resulting health problems. For example, men born in the early 1990s were more than twice as likely as women to drink alcohol at all and three times as likely to drink to problematic levels. This then meant that men were 3.6 times as likely to develop health problems from drinking, such as liver cirrhosis.

The new report show a changing trend towards gender parity, highlighting the importance of prospectively tracking young male and female cohorts as they age into their 30s, 40s and beyond.

Professor Mark Petticrew, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "Men's and women's roles have been changing over the decades, this is likely to account for some of these trends - but not all.

"The increasing availability of alcohol also plays an important part, as does the way that alcohol marketing is often targeted specifically at women and particularly young women. Health professionals need to help the public - both men and women - to understand the health risks of alcohol consumption, and how to reduce those risks."