American men are more likely than women to smoke cigarettes and drink ______ .

A new study has compared the health differences between American men and women. The study found that men in the United States are more likely than women to do things that increase their risk of health problems. For example, American men are more likely than women to smoke cigarettes and drink too much alcohol.
   Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the findings. Tens of thou-sands of adult Americans provided information for the study. They were questioned by telephone in nineteen-ninety-six and nineteen-ninety-seven.
   The C-D-C officials say tobacco use is a major cause of sickness and death in the United States. However, the percentage of Americans who smoke has changed little since nineteen ninety-one. About one-fourth of all adult Americans smoke cigarettes. The new study found that about twenty-five percent of the men questioned said they smoked cigarettes. More than twenty-one per-cent of the women said they smoked.
   In the United States, alcohol use is the leading cause of death from liver failure. Drinking alcohol also has been linked with high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. The study found that men were almost seven times as likely as women to report drinking alcohol often. More than three times as many men as women reported drinking a lot of alcohol at one time.
    Experts at the Centers for Disease Control say extra body weight increases the risk of problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease and some cancers. The new government study also found that about fifty-three percent of adult Americans weigh too much. About sixty percent of the men questioned said they weigh too much. About forty percent of the women reported being overweight. However, the women were more likely to report they did not take part in physical exercise or sports.
   The report noted that women were more concerned with safety. Women were more likely than men to report that they always wore a safety belt while riding in a car.