WASHINGTON: A narrow majority of Americans now believe even moderate consumption of alcohol negatively affects health, as US drinking levels continue to decline, according to a recent survey.

Pollster Gallup found the number of Americans who said they drink alcohol to be at an all-time low since the poll was first conducted in 1939 — a few years after the United States ended its prohibition of alcohol.

The survey found 54 percent of Americans reported they drank alcohol either occasionally or regularly in 2025, down from at least 60pc recorded between 1997 and 2023.

Those who did say they drank alcohol reported it was in smaller amounts, with the average number of drinks consumed in the last week being 2.8, “the lowest figure Gallup has recorded since 1996,” the pollster said on its website.

Attitudes towards alcohol, which Gallup has been tracking since 2001, saw the most significant difference in the poll published this week.

The number of people who consider moderate consumption of alcohol — up to one or two drinks per day — to be bad for personal health rose to 53pc in 2025. For comparison, the figure was 27pc in the early 2000s.

“Americans’ drinking habits are shifting amid the medical world’s reappraisal of alcohol’s health effects,” the pollster noted.

In January, then-US surgeon general Vivek Murthy called for alcohol to be sold with a cancer warning label on its packaging.

“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer, responsible for about 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States,” he said in a statement.

“Yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” he added, underscoring the urgent need for public education.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2025