Three years of support are requested to accomplish two related goals. First, and most important, we will determine a more accurate and authoritative time series of U.S. per capita alcohol consumption estimates, 1790-1950, for the population as a whole, as well as various categories. Research over the past two years under the NIAAA-funded Historical Review of Alcohol Abuse and Control (which the proposed staff work on) has revealed that existing time series are seriously flawed in several respects and, as a result, offer a distorted and misleading picture of U.S. consumption trends. Moreover, our review of this terrain indicates a wealth of untapped data exists to rectify this problem. The task requires in-depth research into a wide range of primary source materials, many archival. It also is essential that the process be informed by an understanding of the transformations in patterns of use among the total population and population subgroups. Despite the growth of the social history of alcohol in America, surprising little attention has been paid to consumption itself. Thus, our second goal will be to help fill the existing gaps in knowledge about drinking to more carefully map the major transformations that occurred over this period. This will provide meaning and context to the statistics and shed light on some of the most fundamental questions concerning changes in consumption levels.
More specific aims will be to: (a) provide estimates (beverage gallons and absolute alcohol) for five-year intervals for each of the four beverage classes for the total population, for the """"""""drinking age population,"""""""" and for the """"""""nonabstaining population""""""""; (b) construct a number of similar tables roughly allocating per capita consumption estimates across regions and major social status groups; (c) provide a series of statistical tables of information used in calculating consumption statistics (e.g., production); (d) identify data, sources, and methods for estimating per capita consumption and provide a careful record of how these statistics were calculated; and (e) provide a narrative analysis of the major shifts in consumption in America, including implications of differences between prior estimates and assumptions and our revised series and trend analyses. The results will be published in a series of journal articles, as well as in a companion volume to the Chronology History of Alcohol in America currently being produced by the proposed staff. In addition, the statistical results will be provided to NIAAA's AEDS system.
| Roizen, R; Kerr, W C; Fillmore, K M (1999) Cirrhosis mortality and per capita consumption of distilled spirits, United States, 1949-1994: trend analysis. West J Med 171:83-7 |
| Roizen, R; Kerr, W C; Fillmore, K M (1999) Cirrhosis mortality and per capita consumption of distilled spirits, United States, 1949-94: trend analysis. BMJ 319:666-70 |
