Heavy Drinking On The Rise Among Older Americans

Americans today, who are above 60 years of age, are consuming more amounts of alcohol when compared to the last 20 years, reveals a study. The study published recently in the Journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that regular consumption among older populations is on the rise.

According to the study author Rosalind Breslow, an epidemiologist at the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, as quoted by CNN, "Given the larger number of Americans we are going to have (as the population ages), that's going to increase the need for more public health programming."

Researchers analyzed over 145,000 responses to the National Health Interview Survey from 1997 to 2014. They observed a steady increase in the number of older adults who consumed alcohol.

Men reported higher numbers of regular and binge-drinking tendencies than women, but the largest percentage increases were seen in the female population. That gap is the one between men and women who were "current drinkers," consuming 12 or more drinks in any one year in their lifetime and one or more drinks in the past year. And although it may be narrowing, there is still a significant disparity by gender.

In the US 20 years ago, 54 percent of men 60 and older were reported to be "current drinkers," and 37.8 percent of women fit the same description.

Trends in the binge-drinking category, consuming five or more drinks in a single day in the past year, also increased among older people.

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The numbers reveal that overall, older adults are drinking more, and the slight increase in female drinkers over 60 could be something to watch as the population ages.

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Source-ANI