Gender Eshqulefy - Women as Squiffy as Men

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• Gender Eshqulefy - Women as Squiffy as Men

11 November 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970

International analysis shows women are catching up with men in terms of their alcohol consumption and its impact on their health, says a report published in the online journal BMJ Open.

Historically, men have been far more likely than women to drink alcohol and to drink it in quantities that damage their health, with some figures suggesting up to a 12-fold difference between the sexes. But now evidence is beginning to emerge that suggests this gap is narrowing.

Researchers used 11 key indicators of alcohol use and associated harms for their analysis. These were grouped into three broad categories of: any use, which included quantities and frequency; problematic use, which included binge/heavy drinking; and the prevalence of associated harms.

Among the 42 studies that reported some evidence for 'sex convergence', most indicated that this was driven by greater use of alcohol among women and 5% of the sex ratios were less than 1, suggesting that women born after 1981 may actually be drinking more than their male peers.

The researchers concluded: “Alcohol use and alcohol use disorders have historically been viewed as a male phenomenon. The present study calls this assumption into question and suggests that young women in particular should be the target of concerted efforts to reduce the impact of substance use and related harms.”

Picture: Women born after 1981 are drinking as much or more than men according to the BMJ

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 11 November 2016

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