A growing number of Americans are putting down their drinks — not for lack of interest, but out of concern for their health.
According to The Associated Press, a new Gallup poll released Wednesday shows that a record 53% of U.S. adults now say moderate drinking is bad for their health, nearly double the 28% who felt that way a decade ago. The shift reflects a broader cultural change as more people, especially young adults, grow skeptical of alcohol’s once-assumed benefits.
At the same time, fewer Americans overall are drinking at all. Just 54% of adults report consuming alcohol, the lowest share Gallup has recorded in more than 30 years.
The decline is being driven largely by younger adults, who have become far more likely to view alcohol as harmful. According to the poll, about two-thirds of Americans ages 18 to 34 now believe moderate drinking is unhealthy — up from about 4 in 10 in 2015.
Older Americans are catching up too: roughly half of adults age 55 and older now see moderate drinking as a health risk, compared to only 20% a decade ago.
“Older folks may be a little more hardened in terms of the whiplash that they get with recommendations,” said Lydia Saad, Gallup’s director of U.S. social research. “It may take them a little longer to absorb or accept the information. Whereas, for young folks, this is the environment that they’ve grown up in … in many cases, it would be the first thing young adults would have heard as they were coming into adulthood.”
For years, moderate alcohol use — such as a glass of red wine a day — was touted as heart-healthy. But newer research has overturned that belief, showing stronger links between alcohol and negative health outcomes, including cancer and heart disease.
Earlier this year, outgoing Surgeon General Vivek Murthy suggested putting warning labels on alcohol to inform consumers about its cancer risk. Meanwhile, several countries have already lowered their national drinking guidelines in response to mounting evidence that no amount of alcohol is truly safe.
The federal government is expected to release updated dietary guidelines later this year under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has promised “big changes” — though it’s not yet clear how the alcohol recommendations will shift.
Even among those who still drink, Americans are cutting back. The poll found that only about one-quarter of drinkers had consumed alcohol in the previous 24 hours, the lowest share Gallup has ever recorded.
Roughly 4 in 10 said it had been more than a week since they last had a drink.
While the majority of Americans still enjoy alcohol occasionally, the days of carefree happy hours may be waning. As more people — especially younger generations — question whether “just one drink” is worth the risk, the country’s relationship with alcohol is quietly but steadily changing.
