Drunk in China? The Imperative for Effective Interventions Against Alcohol Abuse

作者：Zhaohui Su, Bindi Bennett, Ruijie Zhang, Jianlin Jiang, Yifan Liu, Xin Yu, Dean McDonnell, Sabina Šegalo, Jing‐Bao Nie, Claudimar Pereira da Veiga, Yu‐Tao Xiang · 发表于：Substance Use & Misuse · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1080/10826084.2024.2392542 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes、Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects、Smoking Behavior and Cessation

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use and abuse remain prevalent in China, though mounting evidence shows that even drinking in moderation is detrimental to health. While many countries' intake is on the decline, China's alcohol consumption is rising fast and is on the path to overtaking countries like the United States, even on a per capita level. OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to analyze the danger of lax enforcement of laws and regulations against alcohol use and abuse and underscores the imperative for effective health interventions to curb problematic alcohol consumption in China. RESULTS: Different from their Western counterparts, Chinese drinkers often consume more spirit with a high percentage of alcohol in social settings that encourage the "ganbei culture"-making toasts with alcohol filled to the brim and downed in one go to show respect-which perpetuates excessive drinking at a fast pace. Though the country has various laws and regulations in place to curb problematic alcohol consumption, like workplace drinking, their impacts are dismal. Considering that China has 1.4 billion people, the country's uncurbed alcohol consumption trend could have a detrimental effect on national strategic objectives like "Healthy China 2030" and international ones like the Sustainable Development Goals. To further compound the situation, prevalent campaigns promoted by liquor companies-like alcohol-infused coffee, chocolate, and ice cream-may groom young people to develop alcohol consumption habits, i...