Who are the heavy drinkers?
Alcohol consumption in a population can be measured in two main ways: by analyzing production and sales statistics or by asking people about their drinking habits through surveys. Production and sales statistics can provide gross figures for a population that can be broken down geographically, but such statistics only take into account officical data. In surveys, however, each respondent’s drinking patterns are recorded separately and can be related to personal characteristics and behaviours. Different facets of drinking patterns can thus be surveyed for all kinds of population subgroups Moreover, surveys can reveal: • alcohol consumption that is not recorded in official statistics, • alcohol-related problems at home or at work that do not show up in official statistics, • how patterns of drinking relate to social and health problems at the level of the individual and sub-populations • time-trends and effects of policy initiatives Information on individual drinking patterns can highlig
Alcohol consumption in a population can be measured in two main ways: by analyzing production and sales statistics or by asking people about their drinking habits through surveys. Production and sales statistics can provide gross figures for a population that can be broken down geographically, but such statistics only take into account officical data. In surveys, however, each respondent’s drinking patterns are recorded separately and can be related to personal characteristics and behaviours. Different facets of drinking patterns can thus be surveyed for all kinds of population subgroups Moreover, surveys can reveal: • alcohol consumption that is not recorded in official statistics, • alcohol-related problems at home or at work that do not show up in official statistics, • how patterns of drinking relate to social and health problems at the level of the individual and sub-populations • time-trends and effects of policy initiatives Information on individual drinking patterns can highlig
