FACTBOX-60 percent of Americans drink. survey finds

March 16 (Reuters) - Just over 60 percent of U.S. adults regularly drink alcohol, while about a quarter never do, according to the latest federal statistics.

Here are some facts about drinking in the United States, according to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

* 68 percent of U.S. adult males described themselves as current drinkers, compared with 55 of women.

* 31 percent of women abstain from alcohol; 18 percent of men do

* 70 percent of white men drink, compared with 57 percent of black men, 55 percent of Asian men and 58 percent of American Indian or Alaska Native men.

* White women are more likely to drink than black women (59 percent versus 40 percent); 45 percent of American Indian or Alaska Native women drink and 32 percent of Asian women do.

* The more education people have, the more likely they are to drink -- 74 percent of adults with a graduate degree drink, compared to 44 percent of those with less than a high school diploma.

* The higher a person's family income, the more likely he or she is to drink. Nearly 73 percent of adults with family incomes four times or more the poverty level were drinkers, compared with 45 percent of adults with family incomes below the poverty level.

(Source: U.S. National Center for Health Statistics)