Drinking Alcohol Carries Significant Health Risks and No Benefits for Young

A new study finds that young people (under age 40) face higher health risks from alcohol consumption than older adults.

• Global Burden of Disease’s new analysis estimates that 1.34 billion people consumed harmful amounts of alcohol (1.03 billion males and 0.312 billion females) in 2020.
• The analysis suggests that for young adults ages 15-39, there are no health benefits to drinking alcohol, only health risks. 59.1% of people who consumed unsafe amounts of alcohol in 2020 were between ages 15-39 years and 76.7% were male.
• Given the complex relationship between alcohol and diseases and different background rates of diseases across the world, the risks of alcohol consumption differ by age and by geographic location, the authors note.
• Health risks from alcohol consumption vary by age and region for adults over age 40. Consuming a small amount of alcohol (for example, drinking between one and two 3.4-ounce glasses of red wine) for people in this age group can provide some health benefits, such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes.
• Researchers call for alcohol consumption guidelines to be revised to emphasize consumption levels by age. They stress that the level of alcohol consumption recommended by many existing guidelines is too high for young people in all regions. They also call for policies targeting males under age 40, who are most likely to use alcohol harmfully.

According to a new analysis published in