While younger generations are drinking less, adults aged 50 to 64 are drinking more, causing a shift reshaping the US bar scene

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 – and more are doing so heavily, according to a new study.

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 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.

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.

  • deHaga@feddit.uk
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    8 hours ago

    There is alcohol in lots of food including bread. Your liver is quite capable of handling alcohol.

    • Zacryon@feddit.org
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      5 hours ago

      It seems you have neither read my comment properly, nor the WHO statement. This is about alcoholic beverages as usually sold and consumed. No statement was made about alcohol content in apples, bread, and alike.

    • DrunkenDuckling@lemmus.org
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      7 hours ago

      Baking evaporates all but trace amounts of alcohol…

      Our livers can handle most poisons but they all, alcohol included, take their toll.

      • deHaga@feddit.uk
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        6 hours ago

        Bread, yogurt, soy sauce, vinegar, fruit juice

        All have alcohol and they are nowhere near the risk of asbestos lol