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Study: Australian Women Over 50 are Riskier Drinkers

Health Research
Last Updated Aug 21, 2020

Young women drink far more alcohol than their mothers, right? Surprisingly, no. New research shows that for the first time ever, more women in their 50s are exceeding the lifetime risk guidelines for alcohol, compared to women aged 18 to 24.

The recent National Drug Strategy Household Survey analysed responses from 24,000 people in 2016.

The survey found that while young women are becoming more moderate in their use of drugs and alcohol, older generations are adopting riskier behaviours.

The stats: young people reduce their risk

These statistics might shock you:

People over 40 were more likely to have used illicit drugs in the past year, than in 2013 (from 14% to 16%).

People aged 12 to 24 were more likely to avoid illicit drugs, alcohol and smoking than any other time since 2001.

People aged 12 to 24 who did use drugs and alcohol used them less than in previous years.

In 2017, around 20% of women aged 18 to 24 consumed two or more drinks a day. In 2016, this number was down to 12.8%.

Older women the riskiest drinkers 

Are your socks still on? Well, this might knock them off!

The survey also found that more women in their 50s were drinking more than two standards drinks a day. And, more people in their 50s had 11 or more drinks on one occasion. This exceeds the lifetime risk guidelines, which could be putting their health at risk. Why?

Here's what Professor Brian Draper told the Sydney Morning Herald: "The baby boomer generation had a much greater use of drugs and alcohol than their predecessors."

"It's that particular generation, and also it coincided with women getting much more into the workforce and the feminist movement having a big influence on what women could do, so there's been huge societal changes with that particular generation."

"If you're a woman or man, say 60 years old, and your friends are drinking and you go out and do things together, it influences how you behave."

If you have a drinking problem, one possible solution is hypnotherapy. To get in touch with a hypnotherapist near you, click here.

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Originally published on Mar 22, 2019

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