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The frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages is a habit that is harmful to health, yet it is regarded as a normal habit among the Spanish, and it is also widespread, affecting all social and age groups in high proportions. It is not only a custom or a habit to follow on days off, special occasions or celebrations, rather its consumption has become a part of everyday life.
This is the conclusion of a detailed examination of the consumption of this legal drug in Spain carried out by insurance company Aegon as part of its 'VII Health and Lifestyle Study'. This annual review had its experts interview 1,600 people from all the regions of Spain as a representative sample of the social composition of the country.
The research revealed first of all that in Spain those who abstain from alcohol do not even reach 20% of the population. Eighty-one per cent of study participants admitted to having drunk something alcoholic at some point in the last year. However, not only have many people had a drink, but a large majority of those questioned do so on a regular basis. Putting it bluntly, two out of three people in Spain (67%) consider themselves regular drinkers: 13.3% drink every day, 26% drink between two and three times a week and 27.5% drink once a week.
Another 15% of Spanish people are occasional drinkers. They are those who have a drink of alcohol once every two weeks (9.6%) or once a month (6.4%). The remaining 18% are sporadic drinkers, those who have had a drink at least once in the last 12 months.
The authors of the study consider this data to be alarming, as regular alcohol consumption is a harmful lifestyle habit because, as all medical bodies in the country would agree, it is a risk factor for most human diseases and especially for some of the most serious and lethal ones such as almost all types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
The majority of people have a regular but moderate consumption, as evidenced by the fact that they spend less than 50 euros per month on these drinks. However, of the other quarter of the population, 17.5% spend between 50 and 100 euros a month on these drinks, 6.1% spend between 100 and 200 euros and just over 1% spend more than 200 euros on alcohol every month.
The typical profile of the majority of Spanish consumers of alcohol is male (seven points more than women) and middle-aged (40 to 55 years old), followed closely by young adults (26 to 40 years old). The proportion of younger consumers is lower, but not negligible, with 76% of those aged between 18 and 25 having consumed alcohol at some point.
Two other traits also dominate this main profile. There are more alcohol drinkers among those who are salaried than unemployed (12 points more). Likewise, those with higher education qualifications (university degree, artistic or higher vocational training) have this lifestyle habit more deeply rooted than those who only stayed in compulsory education or even dropped out. Of the higher-eds, 86.5% have drunk alcohol in the last year, whereas the percentage drops seven and a half points to 79% for those with a secondary school degree. It then falls to 62.3%, 24 points less than graduates, for those with only a basic or primary education.
The second factor that repeats itself among respondents is that there is a direct relationship between more regular drinking and experiencing or having experienced some kind of stressful situation.
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