Knowledge Alcohol habits are deeply rooted in cultures

The use of different types of alcohol is so culturally ingrained that it hardly changes in a country over a period of 20 years. This is the conclusion of a study on drinking habits in Europe published in the specialist journal "Addiction".

The research team identified a total of six different types of drinking habits in Europe. The total amount of pure alcohol consumed did not differ much between the groups: it ranged from 9.2 liters in southern European countries such as France, Italy and Greece, which mainly drink wine, to 12.0 liters in eastern European countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where both spirits and other alcoholic beverages are consumed.

According to the study, Germany, for example, is one of the Central and Western European countries defined by heavy beer drinking and comparatively low consumption of spirits. Switzerland was not examined. There are also countries with a lot of beer, a lot of spirits and frequent binge drinking, including Croatia, the Czech Republic and Poland. In the countries in the fifth category, there are many anti-alcoholics, but also a lot of heavy drinkers, including Ukraine and Bulgaria. Finally, the study mentions a group in which a particularly large number of people drink alcohol, often to the point of intoxication: Finland, Iceland and Ireland.

Deeply rooted in the culture

These groups of countries were largely stable in the years 2000, 2010, 2015 and 2019, writes the international research team. "Europe continues to be a region with distinct drinking habits that appear to be deeply rooted in the culture and are therefore difficult to change."

However, one thing was striking: In 2000, there had been an additional group in which relatively little alcohol was drunk - and which later disappeared again. Four of these countries - Norway, Poland, Iceland and Sweden - had the strictest alcohol restrictions at the time, according to an analysis by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Between 2000 and 2010, all four countries relaxed their restrictions.

As drinking habits are still strongly linked to the burden of disease and mortality, the authors conclude that ways should be found to change learned patterns. "Alcohol policies for this change are available and should be considered by all European countries."

SDA