Alcohol consumption among adults in US has seen an 11 per cent increase between 2002 and 2012. This new study was led by researchers of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The study was posted online on Wednesday, which used data from face-to-face interviews conducted in two national epidemiologic surveys on alcohol and related conditions. This was joined by 43,093 and 36,309 adults respectively, as per Xinhua news agency.
The study was conducted between 2002 and 2012 and concluded an increase in alcohol use, high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD). This occurred in the total US population and across almost all socio-demographic subgroups, especially women, older adults, racial/ethnic minorities and the socio-economically deprived.
Alcohol use, high-risk drinking and AUD rose 11.2 per cent, 29.9 per cent and 49.4 per cent respectively.The study called for a broader effort to address the individual, biological, environmental and societal factors that influence the problem of alcohol use and abuse which could have economic costs amounting to about $250 billion.
"These increases constitute a public health crisis that may have been overshadowed by increases in much less prevalent substance use, such as marijuana, opiates, and heroin," the study warned.
(With IANS Inputs)
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