Latest news with #BryantShuey
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Young men are binge drinking less than young women for the 1st time. What's going on?
Gen Z has been hailed as the 'sober-curious' generation, with rates of risky behaviors such as drinking alcohol, as well as having sex and using drugs, falling to historically low rates. But one study recently put an even finer point on the trend: Young men in particular are the ones giving up binge drinking, defined as having five or more alcoholic beverages in one sitting for men, or four or more for women. Fewer Gen Z men than women reported binge drinking in the last month between 2021 and 2023, according to the April 2025 study in JAMA. Though the gap between men's and women's drinking rates has been narrowing over the past several decades, in recent years women's alcohol use has outpaced men's for the first time ever. The findings have raised alarm bells over women's high binge-drinking rates. But a closer look shows that the closing gender gap is driven as much, if not more so, by falling bingeing rates among men, especially young adult males. So what's inspiring young men to drink less or not at all? We looked into it. All young adults were drinking less between 2021 and 2023, compared with the 2017-19 period, according to the study. Young women were binge drinking 13% less, but young men saw an even bigger drop — nearly 21%. So it's not that more women are necessarily binge drinking now — it's that fewer men are, and that shift has made women's rates seem higher in comparison. Why young men are drinking less is still up for debate, notes study author and University of Pittsburgh internist Dr. Bryant Shuey. Though he sees the declining rates of binge drinking among young men as a 'public health success,' Shuey wonders if it's more complicated than a pure win. 'Are young people happy, socially connected and drinking less, or is it that middle-aged and young men are more lonely, less social and less willing to call up a friend for drinks,' he says. 'There's potential that there is a tradeoff here: Less alcohol and more loneliness, and we need to think about addressing both.' There's no shortage of theories behind Gen Z's relative sobriety: Young people are big on prioritizing their health, and there's a booming health and wellness industry to meet the demand; the loneliness epidemic that Shuey noted; rising rates of young people choosing cannabis over alcohol; and Gen Z-ers choosing to scroll on a smartphone rather than partying with friends. A recent Dutch study suggested it may be simpler than all that: Young people are just too broke to buy drinks (and costs are rising). Dry January and "sober-curious" posts on social media may also play a role, experts and men who have gotten sober suggest. Brandan Saho, a sports journalist and host of the podcast The Mental Game, says both trends have inspired a lot of young people to not drink. 'And once they see that their personal life is better and their physical health is better and that no one cares that they don't drink,' then picturing a sober life becomes that much easier, says Saho. 'It's not a defining thing like it would've been 10 or 15 years ago, when you weren't cool if you didn't drink.' Fellow podcaster Shane Ramer says there was a 'lack of the cool element' to sobriety when he quit drinking. A decade later, he's hosting the That Sober Guy podcast and thinks that 'people are waking up to the fact that … it's so much cooler and respectable and how many more opportunities there are,' when you don't drink, he says. Ramer, 43, and Saho, 31, are recovering alcoholics. Both grew up in households where drinking — often heavy drinking — was the norm, but it wasn't talked about. While they're not part of Gen Z, Ramer and Saho suspect that some of the younger generation had similar experiences. 'It took me hitting my rock bottom and almost not being alive for me to tell my dad,' says Saho, referring to his drinking. 'You should be able to talk to the men in your life, but until the past five or 10 years, no one did.' That's changing with social media, podcasts and vodcasts, especially given that many influential (and, in some cases, controversial) male podcasters with large followings of young men are sober and vocal about it: Joe Rogan, Theo Von and Andrew Huberman, for example, have all quit drinking. On Reddit, several people said that Huberman's episode on the effects of alcohol have gotten them to quit drinking. Hearing some of them talk about giving up alcohol to focus on the work they enjoy doing resonated with Saho. As he says in one TikTok, it helped inspire him to stay sober. While social media certainly has its downsides and dangers, Ramer describes a 'cultural shift' around drinking that's having a positive effect on young men. 'You have a lot of media and podcasts and celebrity people who are sober and open about it,' he says, adding that this openness provides a sense of community and a path forward for people, including young men, who are considering drinking less — or not at all.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Young women now binge drink more than young men
Young women ages 18 to 25 in the United States are now binge drinking more than their male peers, a reversal of prior trends, according to a new research letter published Wednesday. Binge drinking is defined as a man having five or more alcoholic drinks or a woman having four or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting, or within two to three hours. Heavy drinking refers to men having 15 or more drinks per week and women having eight or more drinks per week, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, researchers found that women ages 18 to 25 reported higher rates of binge drinking than men in the same age group from 2021 to 2023, a reversal of patterns seen in 2017 to 2019. While men in older age groups still drink more heavily overall, this shift among young adult women is raising alarms in the medical community. "That has big implications just for health down the line … [including] the progression to alcohol related liver disease," said Dr. Bryant Shuey, lead author of the study, which was published in JAMA, and a physician at the University of Pittsburgh. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over time, drinking alcohol has been linked to several types of cancers, and excessive alcohol use can lead to heart disease, liver disease and alcohol use disorder. One standard drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. But Shuey said even the same amount of alcohol could affect women differently than men. "We need more education around the harms of alcohol use and how the same amount can pose greater health risks for women than men," Shuey said. 6 taboo facts women should know about alcohol and their health The study only looked at two snapshots in time and didn't follow the same people over time, so they can't say whether these results are due to faster declines in drinking among young men or increasing rates among women, but Shuey pointed to several possibilities, including cultural changes around alcohol use, the likelihood of drinking among the young professional workforce and targeted alcohol marketing toward women. Still, the overall picture is clear: The gender gap in risky alcohol use is narrowing and in the case of young women is flipping. Alcohol linked to greater risk of cancer in women: What to know The findings underscore the need for better screening and intervention strategies, said Shuey. He noted that brief counseling interventions during routine medical visits can reduce alcohol consumption by up to 30% in a six to 12-month period. But many patients are never asked about their drinking. "Screening should be a standardized process in all clinical encounters for risky alcohol use," Shuey said. He noted that asking about alcohol is already recommended in federal medical guidance, but not enough doctors ask the question. Beyond screening, doctors can connect people to treatment, whether that's therapy, mutual support groups, or medications. As for next steps, Shuey said he hopes this research prompts not just clinical action, but public awareness. "There needs to be more education around the harms related to alcohol use, the normalization and the kind of heightened risk that alcohol has specifically to females relative to males," he said. Dr. Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase is a family medicine and preventive medicine physician at the Mayo Clinic and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit. If you or someone close to you needs help for a substance use disorder, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit SAMHSA's Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator. Young women now binge drink more than young men originally appeared on
