Frequency of alcohol use and the level of education

The relationships between the length of education and the frequency of alcohol use were analysed in 12,000 men and women in Tromsø, Norway. Men drank beer and spirits more often than women, whereas the proportion of men and women who drank wine once a week, or more frequently, was the same (9%). Subjects with a high level of education drank all three types of alcohol more frequently than men and women with a low level of education. This was particularly true for wine (and beer for women). About 1% of men and women with less than 8 years of education stated that they drank wine at least once a week. In contrast, about one in four with more than 16 years of education drank wine weekly. The proportion of weekly beer drinkers in men with less than 8 years of education (23%) was less than half that for men with more than 16 years of education (53%). The relationship between the frequency of alcohol use and the level of education was not as strong for spirits as for wine.