WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Years after the pandemic, alcohol use started to decline between 2022 and 2024. However, the trend was different across age groups, with younger adults drinking less while heavy drinking increased among people aged 50 and older.
A research team led by Professor Brian Lee of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California analyzed data from about 114,000 adults who took part in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health Interview Survey between 2018 and 2024.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that the share of adults who said they had consumed alcohol in the past year fell by about 2 percentage points between 2022 and 2024. During the same period, the share reporting heavy drinking fell by more than 8 percentage points.
The decline was strongest among younger adults. Alcohol use among people aged 18 to 29 fell by more than 5 percentage points between 2022 and 2024, the largest drop among all age groups. Among adults aged 30 to 49, the share reporting heavy drinking fell by 17 percentage points during the same period.
The researchers did not determine exactly why younger adults were drinking less. They suggested that the growing 'sober curious' movement, in which people choose to reduce their alcohol intake without giving it up completely, could be one reason. Greater awareness of the health risks linked to alcohol and a possible shift toward other substances, such as cannabis, may also have played a role.
However, alcohol use increased among people aged 50 to 64. Drinking in this group rose by 4 percentage points between 2018 and 2024, while heavy drinking increased by more than 36 percentage points.
Professor Lee said the increase among older adults was concerning. Alcohol-related cirrhosis is most commonly diagnosed in people in their 50s, and the liver becomes more sensitive to alcohol as people age.
The researchers said prevention efforts may need to be tailored to different age groups because drinking patterns are changing in different ways across generations.
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