MODERATE DRINKERS 'HEALTHIER'

British study focuses on people in their 30s

If you are a moderate 30-something drinker you can expect to live longer
than either abstainers or heavy consumers.

What's more, the link between alcohol and its effect on your health is
solidly established by the time you are 33, British researchers say.

The latest study reinforces studies of middle-aged and elderly people which
indicated direct links between alcohol consumption, an individual's health
and how long he or she lives.

The findings come from the world's first study of its kind on younger
adults, carried out on 9,605 British men and women by Dr. Chris Power at
The Institute of Child Health in London and colleagues at the Australian
National University in Canberra.

Dr. Power is a Weston Scholar and is financially supported by the Canadian
Institute for Advanced Research.

"This is the first time there has been a study of people at a younger age,"
she says. "Showing high rates of poor health among never drinkers and heavy
drinkers at this age is a first. It was clear that moderate drinkers show a
consistent pattern of better health that mirrors the patterns you see in
later life."

In the study, published in today's edition of The Lancet, three indicators
of ill health were used -- psychological distress, limiting long-standing
illness and poor general health.

"Using these three criteria, people with light or moderate drinking habits
are doing better than either non-or heavy drinkers from a health point of
view," says Dr. Power.

For the study, alcohol consumption was set at one unit of alcohol
equivalent to half a pint of beer, one measure of spirits or one glass of
wine. Light drinkers were judged to be those consuming 0-5 units for women
and 0-10 for men per week; moderate drinkers were 6-20 units for women and
11-35 for men; and the heavy-drinker measure was more than 20 units for
women and more than 35 for men.

Dr. Power suggested that outside factors may have minor bearing on the
results. These include those who are unable to socialize because of ill
health and those on low income who cannot afford to buy alcohol.

"Initially we wanted to establish that the relationship you see between
alcohol and health at older ages is matched at a younger age. This study
has done that."

Copyright 1998 The Ottawa Citizen

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson