American journal of preventive medicine
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Results of adult telephone interview data from aggregated state surveys show significant chronic alcohol use (two or more drinks per day) by 8.7 percent of the U. S. population. Rates are higher in men than in women (13.8 percent versus 4.0 percent, and higher in whites than in blacks (9.1 percent versus 4.5 percent). ⋯ Overweight women (2.7 percent) and those who eat in response to stress (3.1 percent) have lower rates of chronic heavy alcohol use than those without these risk factors. Alcohol-related morbidity contributes substantially to the loss of productive life. We conclude that examining alcohol consumption in the light of other lifestyle behaviors would help in the design of effective prevention programs based on multiple risk factor interventions.
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As a measure of the use of general pediatric health services we assessed disabled children's receipt of preventive health care in relation to a control group of nondisabled children, matched by age, family size, and region of residence. The study and control subjects were identified in a household survey conducted in Minnesota in 1976 and ranged in age from 1 to 18 years. The proportion who made a preventive health visit was nearly identical in both groups. ⋯ Disability did not contribute significantly to the explained variation, but family structure, mother's education, and mother's use of preventive health services reached the 95 percent level of significance. The results suggest that children in a community who are identified as disabled are not at a disadvantage, in comparison with the nondisabled, in gaining access to preventive health services. The use of such services by all children appears to be low when information on using school health services is not available.