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Alcohol consumption affected by the company drinkers keep
16th Apr 2010
A new study reveals that drinking habits are dictated by the company we keep.
Data, taken from the Framingham Heart Study regarding the drinking patterns of more than 12,000 people, was examined by researcher Dr J Neils Rosenquist and others at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
The study, appearing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, concludes that people are 50% more likely to drink heavily if they have friends or relatives who are considered heavy drinkers.
The article states the researchers also found in general that being surrounded by heavy drinkers increased the reported alcohol consumption by about 70%, while being surrounded by abstainers decreased reported alcohol consumption by half.
The release of the study coincides with Alcohol Awareness Month in the States, when doctors, researchers, treatment and prevention professionals and other advocates focus on reducing the damage caused to individuals and to society by heavy alcohol consumption.
However, a recent YouGov poll of more than 2,000 English adults suggested more than one in five (22%) people who have ended up drinking more than planned put it down to peer pressure, while 39% of drinkers feel the need to make up an excuse or lie to justify refusing a drink.
The poll found:
• Only 1% of English adults who drink, think less of people who refuse a drink or choose to drink less than them
• Just 4% expect their friends to keep up with them when drinking
• Only 2% admit to piling on the pressure for friends to drink more when they don't want to.
The NHS recommends women do not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day (about 2 small glasses of wine), and men do not regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day (about two pints of beer).
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