Americans, and especially those under age 35, are changing their tune on alcohol use, with a growing share endorsing the view that moderate drinking is bad for health — and a new study backs them up.
According to a Gallup poll released Tuesday, almost half of Americans, 45%, say that having one or two alcoholic drinks a day is bad for a person’s health. That’s the highest percentage yet recorded by the survey, which has been conducted 10 times since 2001.
Younger adults are the group most likely to say drinking is bad for health, with 65% in that camp, compared with 37% of adults ages 35 to 54 and 39% of adults 55 and older.
Only 8% of adults reported that they thought moderate drinking had a positive effect on health, an all-time low.
Separately, a new study found that moderate drinking doesn’t appear to benefit the health of older adults, joins a growing body of research countering the once widely held belief that a glass or two of alcohol a day, especially wine, might be good for health. Instead, recent research has revealed that alcohol can be a potent carcinogen and is a potential contributor for a host of other diseases, such as depression and liver and kidney problems.
“Alcohol is a carcinogen and contributes to about 50 different types of death,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, who directs the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria.“Overall, alcohol is a health hazard,” said Naimi, who was not involved in the study.
