distribution of alcohol consumption

[cwd]

I sort of thought that there would be a bell curve, with most people drinking 1-2 alcoholic drinks per week maybe. And the industry mostly depending on millions of moderate drinkers. I was wrong:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... d79d300efc

The median American adult has a handful of drinks per year. The bottom 30% say they don't drink ever. If you have one a day, you are in the top 30%.

The top 10% of Americans average 73 drinks/week. They account for more than 50% of alcohol sold all by themselves.

So what I'll be watching for when I see an add for cheap beer/wine/liquor, is that their target audience are alcoholics who buy the bulk of the product, not me. I'm insignificant to them.

[Skid]

I sometimes go months without a drink, but if it is a hot summer evening In don't mind having a beer or two, sometimes daily. I normally stop at two though. If I have more I snore like crazy and my wife threatens to suffocate me with a pillow.

[mgil]

I’m not surprised this is Rayleigh.

[mouse]

Drinking pretty much fell off a cliff for me when we had our first son. It's easy for me to go months and months without so much as considering a drink. Last month or two it's been a little more common, this past weekend being the first time I've had more than a beer or two (four on Monday).

[mbasic]

I wonder how age / current health status figures in?

Like if you are over 65 or 70, maybe you don't drink at all because of all the health problems.
(boomers are a big % of the population ... the "over 18" thing makes even it moreso).

Also, if you are in bad shape diabetes-wise, HPB, etc etc etc ... and know it, and/or on Rx meds, etc... you probably don't drink at all (maybe).

I bet that explains a lot of the "30% don't even drink" thing.

I bet out of the healthy population + more middle of the road age (25-45) its probably only 5% or less that totally abstain from alcohol.

[Allentown]

My wife probably has 0-1 drinks a week. 3 a week is typical for me, but my average is probably a little higher because I will sometimes have 1+ on weekends/vacation/etc. I figured that was probably on the high side of normal, what with being a craft beer lover.
Meanwhile, the photographer we had for our wedding also works for a beer distribution company. He has something like 10K unique beers logged, and it isn't unusual for him to log 10-12 beers in a day. Granted, that's at tastings/bottle shares.

[brkriete]

I wonder how age / current health status figures in?

Like if you are over 65 or 70, maybe you don't drink at all because of all the health problems.
(boomers are a big % of the population ... the "over 18" thing makes even it moreso).

Also, if you are in bad shape diabetes-wise, HPB, etc etc etc ... and know it, and/or on Rx meds, etc... you probably don't drink at all (maybe).

I bet that explains a lot of the "30% don't even drink" thing.

I bet people who drink, drink, regardless of health and other concerns.

[cwd]

Also, if you are in bad shape diabetes-wise, HPB, etc etc etc ... and know it, and/or on Rx meds, etc... you probably don't drink at all (maybe).

I bet that explains a lot of the "30% don't even drink" thing.

I bet people who drink, drink, regardless of health and other concerns.

Probably a lot of occasional drinkers give up booze when their doctor says to. I cut back quite a bit after learning that the old "one per day is good for you" theory was incorrect.

People who drink 10x/day *really, really* like drinking. They are going to be a lot harder to persuade, they've probably already accepted a lot of health degradation.

[omaniphil]

I cut back quite a bit after learning that the old "one per day is good for you" theory was incorrect.

Wait really? I've been operating on the assumption that if one per day was good for you, then 5-6 a day is even better for you!

[Cinic]

I bet out of the healthy population + more middle of the road age (25-45) its probably only 5% or less that totally abstain from alcohol.

According to this, the abstaining 30% (men anyway) is pretty steady across age groups. https://news.gallup.com/poll/8908/young ... -much.aspx

[Travis]

Is it abstinence if you go years between drinks sometimes? I've probably averaged 1-2 drinks a year for the last 20 years, but I know there were multiple years without a drink. It's probably been 2 years since my last drink.

[GlasgowJock]

The top 10% of Americans average 73 drinks/week.

Pffft, lightweights.

[KyleSchuant]

I wonder how age / current health status figures in?

Like if you are over 65 or 70, maybe you don't drink at all because of all the health problems.

It drops off after 65. Also BMI peaks in the 55-64yo group and drops off after that. But that's not because they get their shit together - the obese, the smokers and the drinkers start dying off. You can do one of those three and you're dropping off past 65. Do two of those things and it's 55+. All three? Let's not go there.

CWD is correct. Alcohol advertising is the same as gambling advertising, they're aiming at a dependant minority of us. It's a lot easier to get the guy who has 40 drinks a week to have 50 than it is to get the guy who has 0 drinks to have 10.

[convergentsum]

Surely the heavy drinkers buy cheap booze? I don't expect the market for craft ale and aged scotch is so heavily skewed towards alcoholics. But those sectors of the industry don't advertise on TV.

[Allentown]

Surely the heavy drinkers buy cheap booze? I don't expect the market for craft ale and aged scotch is so heavily skewed towards alcoholics. But those sectors of the industry don't advertise on TV.

Depends. My own heavier drinking days was all craft beer. My BiL has 5-10 craft beers a week. That photo guy has 15-20 craft beers a week, many of them on the very pricy end. I don't know many 30pk beer drinkers though.

[Stenson]

It feels damn good to finally be above average in something

It drops off after 65. Also BMI peaks in the 55-64yo group and drops off after that. But that's not because they get their shit together - the obese, the smokers and the drinkers start dying off. You can do one of those three and you're dropping off past 65. Do two of those things and it's 55+. All three? Let's not go there.

My grandpa was a heavy drinker into his 50's before he got sober, and smoked into his 70's. He turns 97 next month.

[cwd]

It feels damn good to finally be above average in something

It drops off after 65. Also BMI peaks in the 55-64yo group and drops off after that. But that's not because they get their shit together - the obese, the smokers and the drinkers start dying off. You can do one of those three and you're dropping off past 65. Do two of those things and it's 55+. All three? Let's not go there.

My grandpa was a heavy drinker into his 50's before he got sober, and smoked into his 70's. He turns 97 next month.

My older relatives who smoked, all died in their 70s and early 80s, mostly of lung cancer. As did my wife's.

Since I apparently don't have genetic immunity, I'll continue not smoking.

No-one in my family is a heavy drinker, so I don't know how hard I could push that vice and get away with it...

[Stenson]

My grandma on the other side died of lung cancer in her early 60's and never smoked. Genetics are cruel. I have some of both, unfortunately

[quark]

It feels damn good to finally be above average in something

It drops off after 65. Also BMI peaks in the 55-64yo group and drops off after that. But that's not because they get their shit together - the obese, the smokers and the drinkers start dying off. You can do one of those three and you're dropping off past 65. Do two of those things and it's 55+. All three? Let's not go there.

My grandpa was a heavy drinker into his 50's before he got sober, and smoked into his 70's. He turns 97 next month.

The plural of anecdote is not data. (Alas this is more true in spirit than literally, but the point is, I hope, clear.)

[Stenson]

It feels damn good to finally be above average in something

It drops off after 65. Also BMI peaks in the 55-64yo group and drops off after that. But that's not because they get their shit together - the obese, the smokers and the drinkers start dying off. You can do one of those three and you're dropping off past 65. Do two of those things and it's 55+. All three? Let's not go there.

My grandpa was a heavy drinker into his 50's before he got sober, and smoked into his 70's. He turns 97 next month.

The plural of anecdote is not data. (Alas this is more true in spirit than literally, but the point is, I hope, clear.)

I wasn't really trying to refute what he said, just wanted to share a weird outlier. It's kind of a running joke in my family that the tough old bastard just won't die.