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“Native Americans are often represented in the media as drinking far more excessively than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States — but new research shatters that damaging stereotype.
Native Americans’ binge-drinking habits are on par with those of white people, according to a study by researchers at the University of Arizona. What’s more, the study also found that Native Americans are more likely than white people to abstain from drinking alcohol.
To reach their findings, the researchers examined data on 4,000 Native Americans and 170,000 white people between 2009 and 2013 — originally collected as part of a survey by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, according to Science Daily. They also looked at a survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention measuring how many times Native Americans and white people had drunk excessively in the past month.
Binge drinking — having five or more drinks at one occasion, one to four times a month — was comparable among the two groups — 17.3% among Native Americans, and 16.7% among whites.
A majority of Native Americans — nearly 60% — had abstained from drinking alcohol in the past month. Among white people, abstinence from drinking was the minority, at just 43.1%. ”
– Mic.com, Native Americans Are More Likely Than White People to Abstain From Alcohol, Study Says.
“In contrast to enduring stories about extraordinarily high rates of alcohol abuse among Native Americans, University of Arizona researchers have found that Native Americans’ binge and heavy drinking rates actually match those of whites. The groups differed regarding abstinence: Native Americans were more likely to abstain from alcohol use.
The UA study, published online Monday in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, was conducted by James K. Cunningham, lead author, a U.S. Fulbright scholar and social epidemiologist with the UA Department of Family and Community Medicine and the UA Native American Research and Training Center; Teshia A. Solomon (Choctaw), director of the Native American Research and Training Center; and Dr. Myra Muramoto, head of Family and Community Medicine.
The researchers analyzed data from a survey of more than 4,000 Native Americans and 170,000 whites between 2009 and 2013. The survey, called the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, was administered by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The UA study also used another nationally representative survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to measure how often Native Americans and whites engaged in excessive drinking in the past month. Again, findings for the two groups were comparable.”
– UANews, Study Debunks Notions About Native Americans, Alcohol.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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