Alcohol consumption has decreased across the United States in recent years, particularly among adults under age 40, but there is one older demographic in which more people are drinking than before the Covid-19 pandemic \u2013 and more are doing so heavily, according to a new study.<\/p>\n
For the first time since before the pandemic, the percentage of US adults who drink any alcohol decreased between 2022 and 2024, according to the report<\/a> in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. People from 50 to 64, which roughly corresponds with gen X, were the only age group in which drinking continued to increase.<\/p>\n They are likely hurting their health by imbibing, according to the latest science, but they are also helping keep open bars. Such businesses have struggled as younger generations, the drivers of nightlife, move away from booze.<\/p>\n People in their 50s and early 60s, are those who \u201cwe were already most worried about health-related risks for alcohol\u201d and where \u201cwe are seeing the highest increases in heavy drinking,\u201d said Dr Brian P Lee, a hepatologist and liver transplant specialist at Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles and the principal investigator of the study. \u201cThat combination is particularly concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n During the pandemic, as people retreated to their homes, drinking increased. In 2018, 66% of US adults consumed alcohol. In 2020, the number increased to 69% and stayed at that level in 2022. The percentage of people who drink heavily, defined for males as consuming more than 15 drinks per week and for females, eight drinks, also increased from 5.1% in 2018 to 6.1% in 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cThe leading theory had been that in periods of stress, people increase<\/a> their alcohol consumption to cope with that. We saw that with 9\/11<\/a>; we saw that with Hurricane Katrina<\/a>,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n In 2024, the proportion of adults who drank, 68%, remained above pre-pandemic levels but was lower than 2022, the first decrease since 2018.<\/p>\n The rate of heavy drinking also decreased \u2013 except for the 50 to 64 group. In 2018, the number was 5.6%; in 2024, it was 7.7%. Meanwhile, adults under age 40 were the only group that saw a decrease in the rate of heavy drinking between 2018 and 2024.<\/p>\n The older generation \u201cdrank a lot in high school, and they have continued to drink a lot\u201d, said David Jernigan, a Boston University professor who has studied alcohol policy for decades. \u201cDrinking patterns get set fairly early in life, and the sea change just hasn\u2019t reached that cohort.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that more people in that age group drink heavily is particularly worrisome, Lee said, because the average age when alcoholic cirrhosis<\/a> starts to appear is 52, and most alcohol-associated cancers<\/a> occur in people 50 or older, research shows.<\/p>\n \u201cAlcohol is a poison for the body,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n For years, there was a common conception that a daily glass of red wine could benefit your health, but many public health groups now warn that no amount<\/a> of alcohol is safe.<\/p>\n \u201cThe health halo around alcohol has been largely discredited, and the younger generation, particularly the gen Zers, they seem to be getting that health message that alcohol is actually not good for you,\u201d Jernigan said.<\/p>\n