Ever since alcohol was accidently discovered by letting some grain going bad in some water and fermenting man has enjoyed having a drink every now and again. Some cultures have been known to embrace the culture that comes with drinking a bit more than others with the Irish at the forefront. A new study shows that what was often thought to be a cultural stereotype may actually be a fact, the Irish have been shown to drink more than other cultures, according to Medical Daily.
The U.S. National Institute on Aging teamed together with the Irish Higher Education Authority to pen a study entitled "Why Do Some Irish Drink So Much?" Academics from both the U.S. and Ireland examined drinking patterns in the Emerald Isle and found that Irish youth drink more than their international counterparts, according to Medical Daily.
"We find evidence of strong associations between amounts of alcohol students consume and the drinking of their fathers and older siblings," the study said. "In contrast, we find little evidence of any impact of other non-drinking aspects of family background on the students drinking. Parental and older sibling drinking also appear to affect subjective attitudes of students towards what constitutes problem drinking behavior."
The researchers delved even deeper and tried to find where the love of alcohol came from historically. They looked at the role of the Church, the influence of the English, the importance of breweries and distilleries to the economy and culture, and the influence of the lousy Irish weather.
"We find relatively strong influences of the Catholic Church and English colonial settlement patterns on Irish drinking but little influence of Irish weather," the study said.
The areas of the country where the Catholic Church played a larger role in daily life, measured by the attendance and prevalence of masses, tended to do a little less drinking. Whereas areas that were influenced by the English, as measured through the popularity of cricket, drank a bit more, according to Medial Daily.
The full findings of the study can be read here.
