Fewer Americans are reporting that they drink alcohol amid a growing belief that even moderate alcohol consumption is a health risk, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

The survey finds that 54% of U.S. adults say they drink alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine or beer — “the lowest by one percentage point in Gallup’s nearly 90-year trend,” the analytics company says.

And a record high percentage of U.S. adults, 53%, now say moderate drinking is bad for their health, up from 28% in 2015. The uptick in doubt about alcohol’s benefits is largely driven by young adults — the age group that is most likely to believe drinking “one or two drinks a day” can cause health hazards — but older adults are also now increasingly likely to think moderate drinking carries risks.

  • Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml
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    16 hours ago

    Alcohol is proven to help make and strengthen friendships, which is probably why we evolved to like it. It’s also responsible for the majority of domestic abuse so there’s that.

    • piefood@feddit.online
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      13 hours ago

      I’ve heard that it was also good for cleaning water. Historically, people didn’t know about germs, but low-alcohol drinks were a good way to clean out the dirty water

    • thesohoriots@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      54% of Americans now want their domestic abuse sober. No more excuses about how you were drunk — OWN that rage!