Changing trends in European alcoholic beverage drinking: selected social, demographic, economic factors, drinking's related harms, and prevention control policies between the 1960s and 2000s.

This study confirms that during the decades following WW II there was a tendency towards closure of consumption of alcoholic beverages among the European countries. The Northern countries, which during the 1960s manifested the lowest rates of alcohol consumption, ended up with greater consumption rates than the Southern countries, manifested the opposite trend; greater amounts of consumptions in the 1960s and lower consumptions in the 2000s. During the same some period, social, demographic and economic indicators--urbanization, rate of elderly males, Income, female education, female employment and mother's age at their childbirths, tended to increase, while the alcoholic beverage control policy strategies showed differences according to the country. Liver disease-related mortality, decreased in most countries. Study limitations are noted.