The number of women drinking alcohol, especially those binge drinking alcohol has seen a dramatic rise across the globe. In most developed countries female drinkers are the ones driving growth in alcohol markets. Globally, the richer the country the more drinkers and the smaller the gap between male and female consumption.
The alcohol industry is aware of the fact that women are driving the growth and are capitalising on this. Alcohol advertising is increasingly being aimed at the female market with multiple brands competing for the loyalty of women, fruit and berry flavoured vodkas, coolers, alcohol lemonades, low calorie drinks etc.
Unfortunately many still think of alcohol abuse as a male-dominated problem but an increasing number of women are becoming addicted to alcohol.
Alcohol dependency and addictions have long been thought of as a male dominated problem but the truth is more and more females are falling victim to this epidemic, as an increasing body of research is proving.
In a recent article on News.com.au one writer describes her journey into alcohol abuse and how alcohol subtly takes its place in our lives as we go through ups and downs, one glass a day turns into two, then three, then a bottle a day until we become totally dependent on that drink to cope.
“Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol” by Ann Dowsett Johnston tells the story of Ann, an accomplished writer and mother who used alcohol to get through the difficult times in life that we all experience.
There is an interesting portion of the article on News.com.au which gives us more insight into not only female drinking habits and motivations but drinking by different generations. Read an excerpt from the article below:
Preeminent American alcohol researcher Sharon Wilsnack, of the University of North Dakota, believes we are now witnessing a “global epidemic” in women’s drinking. In 2011, Katherine Keyes, now an assistant professor at Columbia University, reviewed 31 international studies of birth-cohort and gender differences in alcohol consumption and mortality. Her conclusion? Those born after the Second World War are more likely to binge drink and develop alcohol-use disorders than their older counterparts.
“Those born between 1978 and 1983 are the weekend warriors, drinking to black out,” Keyes says. “In that age group, there is a reduction in male drinking, and a sharp increase for women.”
Meanwhile, women who are in their 40s and 50s have a very high risk in terms of heavy drinking and weekly drinking. “We’re not saying, ‘Put down the sherry and go back to the kitchen,’ ” says Keyes. “But when we see these steep increases, you wonder if we are going to see a larger burden of disease for women.”
This increase may explain why so much of today’s alcohol marketing is aimed at women.
Another reason is because women are increasingly being accepted into male dominated circles, this increases their opportunity to drink to keep up with their male counterparts. This also increases their risks of alcohol abuse disorders.
Women should remember that it takes less alcohol to get them intoxicated than it does males and size also has something to do with it. The other factors that influence the effects of alcohol include:
- Persons size, weight, age, gender,
- The type and quantity of alcohol consumed
- Persons unique body chemistry
- Amount of food in the persons stomach
- The drinking experience a person has
- The mental health status of the individual
- Health conditions that could be increased or made worse by alcohol