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New study indicates a link between a lower IQ and heavy drinking

LONDON — We used to joke that drinking too much would damage your brain, but it turns out that people with low IQs are more likely to consume higher amounts of alcohol than those with higher IQs, a new study has claimed.

Lower IQs lead to higher alcohol consumption, suggests a study. Photo: Getty Images

Lower IQs lead to higher alcohol consumption, suggests a study. Photo: Getty Images

LONDON — We used to joke that drinking too much would damage your brain, but it turns out that people with low IQs are more likely to consume higher amounts of alcohol than those with higher IQs, a new study has claimed.

The study, which was carried out by researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, surveyed 49,321 Swedish men who were born between 1949 and 1951 and were conscripted for Swedish military service from 1969 to 1971. IQ tests done upon conscription, alcohol intake, pattern of drinking, tobacco use, and medical conditions were all examined.

The results showed that men with lower results on their IQ test consumed higher levels of alcohol, leading the team to conclude that “a higher IQ results in healthier lifestyle choices”.

Sara Sjolund, a student at the institute and corresponding author for the study, said that this was the first study to find “consistent” links between “cognitive ability and alcohol-related probems”. The team noted, however, that factors including economic background and social status could also play a part in how much people drank.

Daniel Falkstedt, assistant professor in the Department of Public Heath Sciences at the institute, said that it was probably the low IQ which causes the higher alcohol consumption and not the other way around. “The authors seem to be able to explain a large part of the association between IQ and heavy drinking,” he said. “I think this may be a main message of this large cohort study: Poor performance on IQ tests tend to go along with other disadvantages, for instance, poorer social background and emotional problems, which may explain the association with risky alcohol consumption.”

He added: “In reality, other differences of importance are likely to exist among the men, which could further explain the IQ-alcohol association.”

Sjolund noted that the results of her study might vary across different cultures and countries, especially with regards to women. “We must be very careful in making any attempt to generalise our results to women, since their level of consumption and patterns of drinking likely differ in comparison with men,” she said.

In 2010, a study by the London School of Economics claimed that, in sharp contrast to this study, the cleverest women are the heaviest drinkers, finding that women who achieved high test marks as school children are more likely to drink daily as adults. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

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