Drink and Die: 1 in 5 deaths among adults 20-49 due to excessive drinking

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FACTS:

Overall, 77% of alcohol-related deaths were among men, and Hispanic men had the highest age-adjusted alcohol-related mortality rate (41.6 per 100,000), followed by NH white men (34.8), NH white women (10.8), and Hispanic women (6.7).

The U.S. mortality rate directly attributable to alcohol rose 26% during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new government data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already said the overall number of alcohol-related deaths rose in 2020 and 2021. Two reports from the CDC this week provide further details on which groups have the highest death rates and which states are seeing the largest numbers .
Researchers examined over 690,000 deaths between 2015-2019 of individuals aged 20-64 across the United States, though the legal drinking age is 21 years old. Of the entire cohort, experts found around 12% of deaths were attributed to excessive drinking; when broken down to adults aged 20-49, excessive drinking was responsible for over 20% of deaths.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “excessive drinking” includes binge drinking and heavy drinking, as well as any alcohol use by a pregnant person or an individual under the age of 21.
According to the CDC, over 14,000 U.S. Adults die from excessive alcohol use each year. There are a number of limitations to the data, least of which being that deaths of individuals who previously used alcohol but stopped later in life were not included. Researchers also note that individuals tend to under-report their alcohol consumption, meaning actual numbers might be higher.
The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic also saw more Americans drinking heavily or using illicit drugs, which could further skew the numbers.
“This is really affecting adults in the prime of their life,” Dr. Marissa Esser, lead study author and CDC alcohol program director, told the New York Times. “Evidence-based strategies are out there and underused.”