Heavy Drinkers Engage in Array of Unhealthy Behaviors

New research suggests that heavy drinking is just one part of a constellation of unhealthy and unwise behaviors, HealthDay News reported March 26.

Researchers who surveyed 7,884 hospital patients in Oregon and Washington found that risky drinkers — those who had an average of three or more alcoholic drinks daily — were more likely to have poor eating habits and not wear seatbelts, and were less likely to see their doctors regularly. They also were less likely to think that they could change their own health behaviors.

“Physicians should not only be concerned about patients’ heavy drinking, but also these other health-related practices,” said study author Carla Green of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.

Moderate drinkers were more likely to report good health than either heavy drinkers or abstainers or light drinkers, the study also found.

The findings were published in the journal Addiction Research and Theory.