More people are drinking than 20 years ago, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center analysis of national alcohol consumption patterns. Gathered from more than 85,000 respondents, the data suggests that a variety of factors, including social, economic and ethnic influences and pressures, are involved in the increase.
“The reasons for the uptick vary and may involve complex sociodemographic changes in the population, but the findings are clear: More people are consuming alcohol now than in the early 1990s,” said Dr. Raul Caetano , dean of the Southwestern School of Health Professions and lead author of the paper available online and in the October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. > > > >