Overall, they resulted in around 5 million deaths globally in 2010, and were responsible for more than 161 million years of life lost, equating to 5% of total global health burden.1 Historically, the prevalence of alcohol use and related harms has been between 2 and 12 times higher in men than women.2–7 However, there is emerging evidence to suggest that the gap between men and women in alcohol use and related harms is closing among recently born cohorts.8–11 Understanding sex-specific birth cohort trends in the epidemiology of alcohol use is vital as they point to key environmental and social mechanisms associated with population shifts in alcohol use patterns. For all three broad indicator categories (any alcohol use, problematic alcohol use and alcohol-related harms), the pooled sex ratios declined over successive birth cohorts (see tables 5 ⇓ – 7 ). With regard to indicators of any alcohol use, the sex ratio was 2.2 (95% CI 1.9 to 2.5) in the 1891–1910 birth cohort indicating that males born between 1891 and 1910 were around two times more likely to report any alcohol use than their female counterparts born during the same time. The studies included data collected between 1948 and 2014, representing people born as far back as 1891, all the way up to 2000, and including a total sample size of more than 4 million. While they did not set out to explain the reasons behind their observed findings, they emphasise that their results "have implications for the framing and targeting of alcohol use prevention and intervention programmes." And they conclude: "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,” they say.
– Women have almost achieved equality with men … when it comes to tying one on. Looking back on the imbibing habits of more than 4 million people globally over the last 100 years or so, Aussie researchers say the ladies have closed the drinking gap with men, partly due to marketing efforts and products geared toward young women, the Guardian reports. The University of New South Wales mega-study in BMJ Open journal looked at 68 studies covering the drinking habits of subjects born between 1891 and 2001. While guys born between 1891 and 1910 were twice as likely as women to drink alcohol and three times as likely to abuse it or experience booze-related "harms", all three aspects had reached near-equal status by the time scientists got to individuals born between 1991 and 2000. A press release calls that phenomenon "sex convergence." The study points to a bunch of cultural and economic reasons for the shift, including cheap wine and beer being readily accessible, more women working outside of the home and participating in workplace drinking events, and what the director of UK nonprofit Alcohol Concern calls a "concerted effort" by the alcohol industry to push products and brands on women. What all of this means, per the study's authors: Prevention and treatment programs need to start targeting the gals. "Women are now drinking as much as men ... and we need to be thinking about what will happen to their health as they get older," says lead author Tim Slade, per the New York Times. (Are women drinking more because of … sexism?)