Alcoholic drinks, in Italy over 8 million people had risky consumption behaviors

If it is true that the consumption of alcoholic drinks, including wine, seems to be dropping due to a healthy lifestyle which is increasingly more evident, at the same way, the education to drink in a moderated way should still make progress. Because, instead of choosing a wine glass to pair with a dish, one looks often to binge drinking, a phenomenon which is spread not only among young people, and regards also Italy with long-term consequences for health. As one can read in the report “Smoke, alcohol, weight excess, and sedentary lifestyle” published by Istat in 2023, 15% of the population aged from 11 years old on (over 8 million people) had at least one risky consumption behavior (excessive habitual consumption or drunkenness, the so-called binge drinking). Among men, the quota is equal to 21.2% (5.5 million people), whilst among women is 9.2 % (2.5 million). A substantially stable trend in the ratio of consumers at risk compared to 2022 (14.9%). The excessive habitual consumption regards 8.8% of population (12.2% of men, 5.5% of women), binge drinking represents 7.8% (10.8% of men, 3.1% of women).
Over the last 10 years, a strong decrease in excessive habitual consumption (-2.3%) has been observed, whereas, the quota of those who is likely to drunkenness has significantly increased (+1.5%). Non-moderated behaviors in the consumption of alcoholic drinks are more often observed among over-64s (18.1%, 30,2% for men, and 8.5% for women), among teenagers between 11-17 years old (15.7%, 22.4% of men, and 13.3% of women), and among the young people and adults up to 44 years old (respectively 15.5%, 20.4%, and 10.6%). In the older age groups, the exceeding of recommended quantities occurs with the habitual consumption of wine, mainly during the meal (among them who declare an excessive habitual consumption, that occurs for 54.6% of men, and 64.6% of women). The habit of a non-moderated consumption of alcohol among older people could be in part linked to a scarce awareness about the quantity to consume without running into risks for health (for the population from 65 years old, already a quantity of two or more units is considered to be at risk), but also to cultural factors connected to the tradition seeing in that consumption a habitual consumption.
And, then, there are the young people. While the World Health Organization, according to the Istat report, recommends total abstinence from alcohol consumption until 15 years, in Italy the Law of 2012.11.8 No.189 imposes the ban on administering and selling alcoholic drinks to minors under the age of 18. It follows that young people under the legal age drinking also only one alcoholic drink during the year present a risky behavior of alcohol consumption. Therefore, it is relevant that between 11 and 17 years old, 15.7% consumed at least one alcoholic beverage during the year, a value that theoretically should be equal to zero. In this age range, 2.8% have more risky habits because they consume alcoholic drinks daily, and they are accustomed to binge drinking, or to the consumption between meals at least weekly, whilst 12.9% have a more occasional consumption (at least one alcoholic drink a year, or an occasional consumption between meals). The most elevated predominance of risky alcohol consumption is observed in northern regions, especially in North-East (18.9%), compared to Central Italy (14.6%), and to Southern Italy (12.0%). Compared with 2022, an increase in the predominance of consumers at risk in northern regions (+0.7 percentage points), and vice versa, a reduction in those of Central Italy (-0.8) with an additional subsequent enlargement of territorial differences.