Aging and generational patterns of alcohol consumption among Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans and mainland Puerto Ricans

The relationship between aging and drinking among U.S. Hispanics is not well understood. The present study used data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to describe life-course patterns of alcohol consumption among Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, and Puerto Ricans residing in the mainland United States. Age differences in patterns of consumption among Mexican American and Puerto Rican males were found to reflect aging effects, as evidenced by increasing percentages of former drinkers coupled with consistently low percentages of abstainers at all ages. Among Cuban males, cohort effects were evidenced for middle-aged and older men by a continuation of low rates from younger years, as well as a sharp difference between the rates of the middle-aged and older cohorts and those of the younger cohort. Age differences among all three groups of females were found to reflect cohort effects, as evidenced by large proportions of life- long abstainers across all age cohorts.