Alcohol and Type 2 Diabetes: Results from Canadian Cross-Sectional Data

Cross-section data from Canadian Community Health Surveys are used to examine the relationship between moderate alcohol use and type 2 diabetes. Results from these data are compared with those which have been obtained from prospective longitudinal studies. The major result is that both types of data yield similar conclusions with respect to this relationship. The reason why this occurs is because Canadian drinking behavior is quite stable once a respondent has become an adult and remains relatively stable thereafter. The only difference between the two types of survey is the time at which information on drinking behavior is obtained. Since this does not matter if drinking behavior is stable over large age ranges results from the two types of survey will be similar. Neither type of data can be used to support the proposition that the relationship between drinking behavior and the risk of diabetes is causal. Some advantages that sample survey data have over longitudinal data are also noted.