The top row
Adults under 30 who drink heavily are drinking less alcohol compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study suggests, adding to evidence that Gen Z’s drinking habits have affected alcohol brands, prompting some to turn to drinks without and low alcohol content.
Shot of a group of people toasting their drinks in a nightclub.
Basic elements
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University followed 234 young adults ages 21 to 29 who drink heavily from February 2018 to March 2022 to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their drinking habits.
During and after the pandemic, participants consumed an average of 12.8 fewer alcoholic drinks per month than before the pandemic, and this was mainly due to participants drinking less on weekends, which decreased by almost eight drinks per month, according to the study published Thursday in Nature Mental Health.
The researchers also found reductions in alcohol-related problems and negative behaviors, but there were no significant changes in participants who used alcohol as a coping mechanism throughout the study.
The study authors believe that the lack of social gatherings during the pandemic is partly to blame for the results, as alcohol was still available to participants, but they drank less because they weren’t going to bars or parties with friends, and these trends continued after pandemic.
The study defined heavy drinking as binge drinking on at least four occasions per month (five or more drinks per occasion for men and four or more drinks per occasion for women).
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Crucial passage
“The pandemic was really hard on a lot of people, but for this group of young adults who were heavy drinkers, the pandemic seems to have had a long-term positive effect,” said Kasey Creswell, lead author and associate professor of psychology. at Carnegie Mellon University, he said in a statement.
Key background
THE “sober curiousThe lifestyle — meaning a person explores abstinence from alcohol — is growing in popularity among Gen Z and millennials, and the hashtag #anxiety has over 89,000 videos on TikTok with creators sharing their experience with the movement. Nearly 30% of college students in 2018 reported abstaining from alcohol, compared to 20% in 2002, according to a 2020 JAMA Network Open study. About 62% of adults under 35 say they drink, according to an August 2023 Gallup voting, up from 72% two decades ago. This decline in consumption may have given a boost to the alcohol-free and low-alcohol beverage industry, which is expected to grow by 25% between 2022 and 2026, according to data by beverage market analysis firm IWSR. Anheuser-Busch beer maker he said plans to have alcohol-free or low-alcohol beverages account for 20% of its sales by 2025. Gavin Hattersley, CEO of Molson Coors—which makes Miller Lite, Coors Lite and Blue Moon—he said CNBC is investing in non-alcoholic beverages, such as energy drinks and non-alcoholic beers, to keep up with health and wellness trends led by young adults.
Big number
11 billion dollars. What was the market value of alcohol-free and low-alcohol industry in 2022, according to data from IWSR.
Amazing fact
Although total alcohol consumption decreased in the Nature study population, alcohol consumption alone increased by 3.8% during the pandemic. Creswell’s precedent research has linked solitary drinking to an increased risk of alcohol-related problems and found that solitary drinking is commonly used as a coping mechanism. However, because there was no increase in drinking to match this study, “we believe this increase in solitary drinking is less an indication that something problematic is going on and more a result of pandemic-related restrictions on social drinking arrangements.” , Creswell said.
Tangent line
Trends like Dry January and Sober October, which involve abstaining from alcohol for a month, have gained popularity over the years. Although Dry January started in the UK, millions of Americans participate every year. About 35% of American adults took the challenge in 2022, compared to 21% in 2019, according to data by the international data and information organization CGA Strategy. TikTok is a popular social media platform among Gen Z, and it is estimated to be over 60% of the generation uses the application. The hashtag #dryjanuary had 381.5 million on TikTok in January—TikTok was removed hashtag views earlier this year — and the hashtag #anxiety it had over 805 million views.
