Drinking patterns have changed within the ethnic populations of Britain.

2004 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Drinking patterns have changed within the ethnic populations of Britain.

"Previous research has suggested low levels of drinking and high rates of abstinence amongst members of ethnic minority groups in Britain, but it was not clear that those conclusions applied equally to those born or educated in Britain. Using quota sampling and street interviewing methods, a sample of 1684 second or subsequent generation men and women from Black (African), African-Caribbean, and Black (British), Indian Hindu, Indian Sikh, Bengali, and Pakistani communities in two Midlands cities completed a brief structured interview during February and March 1999. Results differed markedly by ethnic group, and sometimes by sex," scientists in England report.

"Most Black men and women and most Sikh men were drinkers, and rates of heavy drinking in those groups were comparable to those found in national general population samples. The drinking of substantial minorities in those groups gives cause for concern on account, for example, of regular heavy drinking and associated behavior carrying social or health risks," stated J. Orford and colleagues, University of Birmingham, School of Psychology.

"Hindu, Pakistani and Bengali men and women, and Sikh women, on the other hand, reported high levels of abstinence, with much smaller proportions of the total (but similar proportions of drinkers) drinking heavily and giving cause for concern. Both men's and women's drinking (ethnic groups combined) was correlated with a lower self-rated identity with religion, and in addition women's drinking was correlated with a range of other social and cultural variables (more qualified, ...