[The French drink too much alcohol].
OBJECTIVE
Describe the long-term trends for alcohol consumption in the French population, by sex.


METHODS
Joint analysis of the available alcohol data and of the results of surveys in representative samples of the French population.


RESULTS
The average consumption of the adult population (aged 15 and over) was 65g of pure alcohol per day in 1935 and 27g per day in 2008. In 2008, the male population drank an average of 43g per day and the female population drank 13g per day. These figures correspond to the average consumption of the total adult population. If one considers that one man in three and slightly less than one woman in three are regular drinkers, the average consumption of these regular drinkers is 64g per day for men and 45g per day for women.


CONCLUSIONS
All the available alcohol is not drunk, some is lost, some is stored, and some is taken home by foreign visitors. On the other hand, the French population drinks alcohol abroad. The overall result of these corrections, corrections which are in opposite direction, would probably be very minor.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite a spectacular decrease since the end of the war, the alcohol consumption of the French population remains much too high.
Hill
Catherine
C
Institut Gustave-Roussy, service de biostatistique et d'épidémiologie, 94805 Villejuif, France.
Laplanche
Agnès
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male