Alcohol and cigarette consumption among white and Asian general practice patients

Abstract

LOW prevalence of alcohol and cigarette consump tion in Asian populations has been reported, though there is come evidence that smoking is becoming more acceptable to certain groups of Asian males. We examined the smoking and alcohol drinking behaviour of 243 general practice attenders in Brad ford, 103 of whom were of White/British, 83 of Pakistani and 57 of Indian origin. Smoking was more prevalent in White/British females compared with males, and in Indian and Pakistani groups was almost exclusively confined to males. The alcohol consumption in the Pakistani group and in Indian females was negligible, while three-quarters of the White/British and half of the Indian males were classed as 'drinkers'. In comparison with the Indian males and White/British females, White/British males tended to be heavier drinkers but there was no difference in frequency of alcohol consumption. The findings show that there is a need for smoking and alcohol-related health promotion across ethnic groups.