For years, men have been drinking more than women. It’s been shown in statistics, as well as in history. After all, women were the ones who spearheaded the temperance movement.
But now, the gap between male and female drinkers looks like it isn’t quite so slim.
In new research headed by Dr. Aaron White of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, it was found that gaps between men and women in drinking, number of drinking days per month, alcohol use disorder, and driving under the influence were all smaller between the years of 2002 and 2012.
“Males still consume more alcohol,” said Dr. White, “But the differences between men and women are diminishing.”
This is especially concerning considering that, according to NIAAA director Dr. George Koob, women are much more at risk for alcohol-related health problems. These problems can include cancer, liver inflammation, and cardiovascular disease.
The study took place over ten years, and they discovered that the percentage of women who said they had consumed alcohol in the past thirty days went from 44.9 to 48.3 percent. For men, it decreased from 57.4 to 56.1 percent.
Similarly, the number of drinking days in the past month for women went from 6.8 to 7.3 days, where for men it went from 9.9 down to 9.5 days.
The only area where men gained percentages instead of losing them was in the 18 to 25 age group, where men increased their likelihood to mix marijuana with alcohol consumption from 15 to 19 percent.
Researchers are at a loss as to why this is happening. They don’t appear to follow any trends, like employment, pregnancy or marital status.
Further research needs to be done, but one thing is for sure: women are drinking way more than they used to.
