Quitters: USA Alcohol Consumption Declining
Quitters: U.S. alcohol consumption declining
Overall alcohol use—particularly consumption of beer—is declining in the US, according to a new study published in the August 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine. Researchers examined 50 years of data and found several changes in alcohol intake but no change in alcohol use disorders. Americans are drinking significantly less beer and more wine, while hard liquor use has remained fairly constant. More people now report that they are non-drinkers. People born later in the 20th century drink more moderately than older people. As we age, our individual alcohol consumption goes down.
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Writing in the article, Yuqing Zhang, DSc, Boston University School of Medicine, and his co-investigators state, “The findings in this study may be considered encouraging in many ways: the average amount of alcohol has decreased in more recently born cohorts, the percentage of the population exhibiting ‘moderate’ alcohol intake has been increasing steadily, and the percentage reporting ‘heavy’ drinking has decreased over time…
Tags: alchoholism treatment
August 25th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
That somewhat surprises me. I would think that alcohol consumption would be going up, not going down. But that’s probably a good thing. Maybe people are learning how to drink smarter?
November 30th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
“I am a member of a substance abuse task force, hold a recovery class every week at a local methadone clinic, always have at least one or two alcoholics/addicts to which I act as a sponsor…”
November 30th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Approximately 92% of US adults who drink excessively report binge drinking in the past 30 days. Although college students commonly binge drink, 70% of binge drinking episodes involve adults over age 25…