Heavy drinking among Americans ages 50 to 64 rose 36% between 2018 and 2024, while overall drinking in that age group increased 4% according to a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine that TIME reported.
The finding matters for anyone researching addiction treatment for an older parent or spouse. The age group with rising alcohol consumption also includes adults whose bodies handle alcohol less effectively, and whose drinking people may mistake for an ordinary part of daily life rather than recognize as a potential health concern.
What the Study Found
Lead author Dr. Brian Lee serves as a hepatologist and liver transplant specialist at Keck Medicine of USC, and analyzed responses from more than 114,000 US adults who participated in the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey between 2018 and 2024.
The survey uses face to face interviews to examine drinking patterns including heavy drinking, which the study defines as five or more drinks in one day or 16 or more drinks per week for men, and four or more drinks in one day or eight or more drinks per week for women.
From 2022 through 2024, overall drinking declined 2% across the entire population, while heavy drinking declined 8%. Gen Z showed the largest decline as drinking rates fell nearly 6%, compared with roughly 2% among millennials, while heavy drinking declined by about one fifth in both generations.
Americans between 50 and 64 moved in the opposite direction as their overall drinking increased 4% and their heavy drinking surged 36% across the 2018 to 2024 period.
“It’s encouraging to see alcohol use decline for the first time since the start of the pandemic” Lee said. “However use remains above pre pandemic levels and certain groups continue to have concerning trends.”
What’s Driving the Divide
Researchers have not established one definitive explanation for the difference. Lee points to awareness as one possible factor, because 2024 research found that far more young adults understand alcohol’s health risks than older adults do.
Pandemic era messaging may have contributed to that difference because many public health campaigns focused on younger people who experienced alcohol related deaths.
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health links alcohol with 62 different diseases including liver disease, cardiovascular disease and several cancers. Lee argues that older adults may need more information about those risks as they continue to drink.
Money and social expectations may also influence drinking patterns because older adults generally have more disposable income than younger people, while the generations that now drink less grew up in a different social environment.
Substitution may contribute as well because cannabis legalization gives younger adults another intoxicating substance that can replace alcohol for some people.
What This Means for Treatment Seekers
A 36% increase in heavy drinking among adults ages 50 to 64 represents a substantial population that enters its later medical years while alcohol consumption continues to rise.
Alcohol related harm can compound with age because the same drinking pattern can produce greater liver damage, more medication interactions and more falls in a 58 year old than in a 28 year old.
Yet healthcare providers screen older adults for problematic drinking less often and refer them to addiction treatment less often than younger patients who show similar drinking patterns.
For families the practical shift involves recognizing sustained heavy drinking in an aging parent as a potential clinical signal rather than dismissing it as a long standing habit.
Healthcare providers can also incorporate routine alcohol screening into primary care for this age group, while treatment programs can address concerns that frequently affect older adults such as isolation, grief, chronic pain and long standing drinking patterns.
Exploring Treatment Options
If you or someone you love drinks heavily in this age range effective addiction treatment remains available at every stage of adulthood.
When comparing rehab centers, ask about programs designed for older adults and ask how each facility handles medical supervision during alcohol withdrawal, because withdrawal can become life threatening.
You should also ask how treatment programs address co-occurring conditions that commonly affect older adults so the treatment plan can account for the person’s broader health needs.
Rehab.com’s directory includes treatment centers across the country. You can compare programs and review their approaches. Call
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to speak with a treatment advisor about available treatment options.
