Drinking Any Alcohol is Now Bad for Your Health
Part of a GALLUP report. A large percentage of Americans are changing their drinking habits. If you click on the link, you can read the rest of the report. Briefly, the opinion appears to be changing as many more are saying that even drinking in moderation or “one or two drinks a day” is bad for one’s health.
“U.S. Drinking Rate at New Low as Alcohol Concerns Surge,” GALLUP
From 1997 to 2023, at least 60% of Americans reported drinking alcohol. The figure fell to 62% in 2023 and to 58% in 2024, before reaching 54% today. Prior to the most recent poll, the rate has been under 60% fewer than 10 times, including 58% in the initial 1939 poll and a one-time low of 55% recorded in 1958. The highs of 68% to 71% were all recorded between 1974 and 1981.
The consecutive declines in Americans’ reported drinking the past few years are unmatched in Gallup’s trend and coincide with recent research indicating that any level of alcohol consumption may negatively affect health. This has been a sharp reversal from previous recommendations that moderate drinking could offer some protective benefits.
Using 2023’s 62% as a baseline (because the 2022 reading of 67% is an outlier), the decline in drinking has been more pronounced among women (down 11 percentage points since 2023, to 51%) than among men (down five points, to 57%). Drinking has also declined 11 points among non-Hispanic White adults, while it has been fairly steady at around 50% among people of color.
Young adults had already become less likely to report drinking alcohol a decade ago, but that trend has only accelerated, with the rate falling from 59% in 2023 to 50% today. This puts their drinking rate below that of middle-aged and older adults, although fewer in those groups are also claiming to drink than did so two years ago.
There has been little difference in recent decades in the percentages of partisans saying they drink alcohol, but that has changed over the past two years, with a sharp drop in reported drinking among Republicans (falling 19 points, to 46%) but not Democrats (holding fairly steady at 61%).
What’s missing from this is a risk scale. Is your risk of dying from cancer as a moderate drinker higher than your risk from dying in a traffic accident as someone who drives 12,000 miles per year or more? How does it compare to the risk of cancer from eating red meat and/or processed meat? How about to the cancer risk from being overweight or obese? Or to the cancer risk from CT scans? Or to the cancer risk from frequent airline flights?
Age is a risk factor for cancer.
Opinion Piece Joel. More to come when I have time
I was 22 in 1974 and would like to take some credit for alcohol consumption reaching a peak between 1974 and 1981. I still drink today and enjoy drinking just as much as I ever did, but a lot less of my friends drink now than they did 50 years ago and those that do drink drink less than they did 50 years ago. Some friends have had problems with alcohol and given it up for that reason. Others find that it affects their sleep more than it used to. Personally, I am more sensitive to the consumption of empty calories and not putting myself in a position where I have to drive after drinking. When I started drinking the legal definition of drunk driving was .15%. Thanks to the lobbying efforts of Mothers Against Drunk Driving it is now .08% which depending on size and how fast you are drinking can be as little as two beers. Most every tavern is non smoking and smokers tend to be drinkers too. Then too, taverns back in the day were the places that single men and women would go to meet and alcohol was a great way to reduce inhibitions. I have no idea where young single people hook up today because I have been neither for a very long time. With respect to young people not drinking as much these days, the data suggest that there is more of a reduction among women and I wonder if young women have simply figured out that if they get intoxicated, bad things can happen to them–especially if Justice Kavanaugh is around. Finally, I wonder if the legalization of cannabis is playing a role. For my money the recent reports of any alcohol being bad for you have had little effect. For one thing the time period is too short. When the Surgeon General came out with the report that smoking was bad for you approximately 42% of Americans smoked. Today it is down to around 12%–not counting vaping and other forms of tobacco use–but that has taken 60 years and countless commercials as well as the price of a pack of cigarettes rising from $.30 a pack in 1964 to $12.00 a pack today. I saw the research on alcohol, but as a news item only.
I wonder if the legalization of cannabis in many states is contributing to the decline in alcohol consumption. I am a home brew guy myself thanks to Jimmy Carter. Also ran marathons and still try to stay in shape (in my 60’s) so never wanted to pollute my lungs. But being heterosexual and having to deal with the opposite sex I need something to relieve my stress. Yeah, having a couple beers now; can’t you tell?
@Mark,
Gave up beer years ago. Now I make my own gin.
Joel:
I will still drink a Modelo or other, similar beer. It tastes good at times when the temperature is higher. Otherwise, no. 11 of 12 have been in the frig for a couple of weeks now. A good and light Bourbon <90 proof is tasty at times. Just whatever I am in the mood for at the time.
“This has been a sharp reversal from previous recommendations that moderate drinking could offer some protective benefits.”
The idea that moderate drinking was protective compared to teetotalers was an artifact. The teetotaler population consisted of both never-drinkers and recovered alcoholics.
Joel:
Yes it is a reversal. Indeed . . .
I sort of gave it up after 25 years of steadily declining intake. I don’t say I don’t drink, but it’s been 4 years and no urge to resume. I didn’t worry about personal health risks really, just as I drank a lot less, I still had recognizable hangover effects from as little as one beer while grilling hamburgers at 5:30. Another factor was at some level my wife and I just didn’t want our kids to see us drinking. Not drinking was easier than trying to do so unobserved. Supposedly Wisconsinites are heavy drinkers, but I laugh when I hear Packer fans claiming massive inebriation happening at Lambeau. Compared with Paul Brown Stadium in the early 2000s, sobriety reigns supreme. Is that a difference between Green Bay and Cincinnati, or between 2000s and 2020s? I’d bet a little of both.
Eric:
We enjoyed our beer on the westside of Madison and Middleton, WI. Before the stadium became more commercialized, we would grab a Brat as being cooked on a Hibachi by a student. I suspect such to be for more beer money for them. After a few times of over indulging, you get tired of experiencing the results of such the next day. Is one drink of good bourbon on the rocks satisfying? I have learned it can be!
Sat in the snow covered seats at Lambeau a couple of times when I could get tickets when the Bears came to play.
It’s a poison, we all know it. Go to great length to convince ourselves otherwise
Of course, there’s nobody worse than a sober goat. The longer time passes ~ I’ve recently crossed the twenty-five year mark ~ I’ve grown convinced it’s a conspiracy to keep the population drunk and distracted, dumb and docile. Maintaining the market share by maintaining the addiction
Like gasoline …