Alcoholic beverage preferences and associated drinking patterns by socioeconomic status among high-school drinkers in three metropolises of China.

To examine the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and adolescent alcoholic beverage preferences and the associated drinking patterns in China. The study used cross-sectional data collected from 136 junior or senior high schools, using a self-administered questionnaire. A total number of 7,075 subjects of drinking students were selected from three metropolises (Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou) via a two-stage stratified sampling method. Among the adolescent drinkers, 87.8% (95% CI: 86.5-89.0) reported that they drunk alcohol during the past years preceding the study, while 42.4% (95% CI: 40.4-44.4) of the subjects stated that they had drunk alcohol during the past 30 days. There were gradual increases in the usual quantity (>1 Standard Drink, SD) of alcoholic beverages with increasing SES, with highest rates reported by the high-level SES. Beer and grape wine were the most widely consumed alcoholic beverage, regardless of SES. Our findings suggest that high-level SES students have an increasing prevalence of drinking behaviour. Their confirmation by future studies which extend the sampling regions is required to further the prevention of adolescent alcohol abuse in China.