Data collected in the Alcohol Supplement and core 1983 National Health Interview Survey were used to examine associations between alcoholic beverage consumption and hospitalization. Hospitalizations in acute care facilities (excluding hospitalizations for delivery) in the past 12 months, were treated as dichotomous (any vs none) and examined in relation to alcohol consumption in a logistic regression model adjusting for age, race, income, and smoking. Findings are based on 17,600 individuals meeting inclusion criteria. The adjusted odds ratio of having one or more hospitalization for current drinkers relative to life-long abstainers in females was 0.67 (95 per cent confidence interval 0.57-0.79) and in males was 0.74 (0.57-0.96). U-shaped relationships between level of current alcohol intake and odds of hospitalization were found. While some causes of hospitalization are clearly increased among drinkers, the overall acute care hospitalization experience of moderate drinkers appears to be favorable.