This increased impairment is also a risk for people who are tired. In certain cases of chronic illness any use of alcohol is high risk. In general, adolescents and elderly people experience greater impairment from alcohol than young adults and middle-aged people. Body size refers to lean mass, not fat. A smaller person generally will experience greater impairment from alcohol than a large person would from the same amount of alcohol.
Women typically become more impaired from the same amount of alcohol than men of the same size.
This may be because women tend to have a higher percentage of body fat than men. In addition, 1-3 days before menstruation, a woman may become more intoxicated and stay intoxicated longer than usual. This may be due to hormonal changes occurring at that time.