Bars, nightclubs linked to more drinking

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Many might think that liquor stores define a neighborhood's alcohol consumption, but a U.S. study found bars and nightclubs are an indicator.

Researchers at the Frederick S. Pardee Rand Graduate School in Santa Monica, Calif., say the findings point to adults-only bars and nightclubs as having the most consistent and sizable effects on adult problem drinking -- even though they accounted for only about 6 percent of the total number of alcohol retail licenses in the area studied.

The study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, finds a higher the number of adult-only establishments located within one mile from someone's home is associated with that person's higher likelihood of binge drinking and consuming excess alcohol.

"If the number of minor-restricted establishments increases, on average, from 0 to two in a neighborhood, the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking in the past 30 days would increase from 11.1 percent to 14.3 percent among women and from 19.6 percent to 22.0 percent among men," study author Khoa Truong said in a statement.