The percentage of U.S. adults who say they consume alcohol has fallen to 54%, according to a recent Gallup poll.
This is the lowest level of drinking in nearly 90 years of polling: https://news.gallup.com/poll/693362/drinking-rate-new-low-alcohol-concerns-surge.aspx
In addition, the number of drinks consumed by Americans in the past week, which is 2.8, is the lowest in Gallup polling since 1996.
What’s impacting this change?
For the first time in Gallup’s polling, most Americans (53%), say drinking in moderation, or “one or two drinks a day,” is bad for one’s health. Just 6% say it’s good for one’s health.
Declines in young adults’ alcohol use correlate with their being the most likely to believe drinking is bad for one’s health (66%).
Changing perceptions of harm may be one factor driving lower alcohol consumption among American adults.
Americans perceived risk of alcohol consumption is likely the result of a greater awareness of alcohol’s effects on health.
Widely reported new research states that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for health. This contradicts the longstanding belief that moderate alcohol use is not only not harmful but healthy.
Recent reporting shows that even moderate drinking increases risks for cancer, heart disease, injury and premature death: https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/about-alcohol-use/moderate-alcohol-use.html
Our nation’s increased awareness of the detrimental effects of alcohol use has in all probability altered perceptions of alcohol’s harmfulness and perhaps lowered alcohol use.
What other factors may be at play?
Another potential factor influencing declining alcohol consumption may be the changing racial and ethnic diversity of young adults in America.
The US population has experienced increases in Latino, Asian and Multiracial individuals, who typically drink less alcohol than White young adults.
In addition, not drinking alcohol appears to have become more socially acceptable, particularly among young adults.
This is reflected in trends such as “sober curious” and related “mindful drinking” reported among young adults.
These movements focus on exploring one’s relationship with alcohol, taking alcohol breaks, setting drinking limits, choosing non-alcohol beverages in social settings, spending time with like-minded people, and exploring alternatives that don’t involve drinking: https://www.healthline.com/health/alcohol/sober-curious#:~:text=explore%20neighborhood%20parks,back%20into%20an%20old%20hobby
While health concerns are a key factor in social trends to lower alcohol use, other benefits are also touted among the “sober curious,” including mental clarity and focus, improved sleep, financial savings, and improving personal growth.
Yet another, but less healthy, factor for why alcohol consumption may be declining is that young adults, particularly college students, have replaced it with cannabis use: https://www.psychiatrist.com/news/college-students-turning-to-cannabis-over-alcohol/#:~:text=Clinical%20relevance:%20Generation%20Z%20college,campuses%20from%201979%20to%202022.
Legalization of cannabis across the US has increased its availability and the marketing of its benefits which has in turn increased marijuana use among youth adults.
Lastly, addiction may be a factor in increasing cannabis use as daily consumption of cannabis has surpassed daily alcohol use in America: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.16519
What about adolescent drinking?
Starting in the late 1990’s to early 2000’s adolescent alcohol consumption began to decline and has continued to decline to date: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7614939/#:~:text=In%20the%20early%202000s%2C%20alcohol,declines%20among%20the%20general%20population.
Declines in adolescent drinking are seen not just in the prevalence of use, but also include reductions in particularly dangerous binge drinking, heavy drinking and drunkenness: https://www.responsibility.org/alcohol-statistics/underage-drinking-statistics/
What might be influencing alcohol declines among adolescents?
Like what we’ve seen with the “sober curious” movement among young adults, alcohol use among adolescents is becoming denormalized and at the same time non-alcohol consumption is becoming normalized.
Alcohol consumption is becoming increasingly less common and expected while non-use more socially acceptable and practiced.
Like the Gallup data on young adults, the Monitoring the Future survey of drug use among American adolescents show that perceptions of harmfulness of alcohol use have been increasing over time: https://monitoringthefuture.org/mtf2025vol1/
Also similar to young adults, present day adolescents may be more risk-averse to alcohol’s effects and see less benefits for their mental and physical health, self-image, life goals, performance and happiness: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13685#:~:text=Recent%20qualitative%20research%20on%20youth,28%2C%2036%2C%2037%5D
In addition, youth are spending more time on social media and other social activities than in previously traditional social settings where alcohol was more prominent, thus reducing the necessity of drinking for social interaction.
Implications for Prevention and Public Health
Prevention and public health professionals working with youth and young adults can draw several inferences from the discussion of declining alcohol use, particularly among America’s young people.
First, alcohol consumption declines are linked to increases in both young adult and adolescent perceived harmfulness of alcohol use, which may have been impacted by greater awareness of alcohol’s damaging effects on health and lifestyle. Even moderate use is now seen as more harmful among young people than in the past.
This highlights the potential of and need for alcohol (and other drug use) prevention programs aimed at increasing youth and young adult awareness and perceptions of the myriad of risks to one’s health, as well as broader harm to their desire to live productive, fulfilled and happy lifestyles. For young adults, as well as older adults, this could include promoting “sober curious” and “mindful drinking” concepts which already appear to be having an impact on reducing alcohol consumption.
Second, since non-drinking is becoming more normalized in American society, prevention and health specialists should embrace communicating to young people the appealing and salient benefits of avoiding all alcohol use, including moderate consumption, heavy use and binge drinking.
This should include promoting alternative activities to improving oneself physically, mentally, socially, economically and spiritually, which do not lend themselves to alcohol use but do promote personal enhancement and overall wellness which are naturally motivating to young people.
Third, a caution about cannabis use. It appears that for some young adults; marijuana is viewed as less harmful and more helpful than alcohol and is being used as an alternative or substitute to alcohol. This trend may continue to grow with expanding legalization of marijuana across the US. Given the typical daily use of cannabis among young adults, they are increasingly in need of motivational interventions to help them address cannabis addiction and problems they are experiencing.
While we currently do not see most adolescents using cannabis as a replacement for alcohol as documented among America’s young adults, it is possible, if not probable, that expanding marijuana legalization will eventually result in greater adolescent consumption of cannabis as a substitute for alcohol or in combination with alcohol use in the future. Prevention and health providers should therefore expand cannabis use prevention programs in schools and communities now to preempt any likely future growth in youth cannabis use and addiction.
One potentially likely effective strategy for preventing future youth cannabis use would be to use what we’ve learned from declines in alcohol use and increase prevention programs that target risks of cannabis to youths’ health and lifestyle, while also promoting the benefits of non-use and opportunities for alternative activities that increase non-use for living full, productive and happy lives.