10 Questions on Holiday Spirits
How does alcohol figure in to American holiday celebrations? We checked with Alcohol.org for this quiz. Are answers what you expect?
As Americans navigate how to "be" with family and friends during a Christmas season of record flu hospitalizations and a looming rise in COVID-19 cases, hopes are that the 2022 holiday season will still help make spirits bright.
Many gatherings will be filled with distilled and other varieties of spirits, too, so we consulted Alcohol.org, a subsidiary of American Addiction Centers, Inc, to learn more about how Americans use alcohol to celebrate holidays.
Use these 10 questions to find out what you know about who drinks what and how much, which holidays tend to prompt binge drinking, and how imbibing habits differ between the sexes. There could be some patient insight for you here. (Note: the theme is Christmas but the holidays span the year.)
1. Which of the trios above (in these orders) comprise the top 3 holidays in terms of average number of alcoholic drinks consumed?
Answer: D. Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve, St Patrick’s Day ranked first, second, and third for holidays on which US adults consumed the most alcohol.
2. Which of the above holidays did men say they associate the most with alcohol?
Answer: B. St Patrick's Day and even though it ranks third on the list for most drinks consumed on a holiday, 36% of men surveyed identified St Patrick’s Day as the holiday they most associate with alcohol.
3. Which of the above holidays did women say they associate the most with alcohol?
Answer: C. New Year's Eve was chosen by 44% of women surveyed as the holiday they most associate with alcohol.
4. True or False: Approximately 50% of employees report drinking at the office holiday party.
Answer: B. False or A. True and then some. Nearly 90% (88%) of those surveyed said they consumed alcohol at the company holiday party.
5. Which of the above libations was found to be the top alcoholic beverage consumed during the winter holidays?
Answer: D. Champagne was the beverage most preferred during the winter holidays, followed by wine and then beer.
6. What percentage of men and women, respectively, report binge drinking during the winter holidays?
Answer: A. 23% (men) and 18% (women) agreed that they had engaged in binge drinking during the winter holidays.
7. What percentage of men and women, respectively, report having “blacked out” celebrating winter holidays?
Answer: A. 7.7% (men) and 5.9% (women) said they have blacked out while celebrating during the winter holidays.
8. What percentage of men and women, respectively, report binge drinking specifically on New Year’s Eve?
Answer: C. 47% (men) and 40% (women): Nearly half of men and more than one-third of women report binge drinking on New Year’s Eve. Americans consume an average of 4.4 drinks on New Year’s Eve.
9. What percentage of men and women, respectively, report having blacked out while celebrating New Year’s Eve?
Answer: C. 27.3% (men) and 16.7% (women) report having blacked out from drinking alcohol on New Year’s Eve--a good deal higher for both genders than reports of blacking out during the winter holidays in general: men, 7.7% and women, 5.9%.
10. Men or women: Which gender suffers more drug- and alcohol-related injuries on New Year’s Eve?
Answer: B. Women. A survey of holiday injury patterns among Americans found that women’s drug- and alcohol-related injuries were most likely to happen on New Year’s Eve (18.4% vs 16.3% for men).
Bonus question: New Year’s Eve led all holidays in drug- and alcohol-related injuries involving which of the essential home features above (more than one may be correct)?
Answer: All of the home features listed. New Year’s Eve led all holidays in drug- and alcohol-related injuries regarding walls and ceilings (54.2%), rugs and flooring (20.2%), couches and chairs (31%), and toilets (42.9%).
