U.S. ALCOHOL POLICY ALLIANCE CALLS FOR REDUCED ALCOHOL INTAKE IN DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR AMERICANS

New report highlights key evidence for lowering alcohol consumption amounts

WEST LAKE HILLS, Texas, Jan. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance (USAPA), the national voice on alcohol policy, again calls for reducing the recommended alcohol consumption amounts in the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). As work continues in preparation to revise the DGAs this year, a new report released today highlights key evidence that alcohol intake at the amount currently indicated in the DGAs poses considerable health risks.

"When the DGAs were revised five years ago, scientific recommendations to reduce the alcohol consumption amounts were ignored," says USAPA Board Chair Tiffany Hall. "The data released today underscores the concentrated effort of the alcohol industry to make billions by keeping Americans drinking at levels that put their lives at risk."

In Washington, the $2.5 billion alcohol industry spends more than $45 million on lobbying and has over 300 lobbyists working tirelessly to make sure the DGAs go unchanged and their profits don't fall. Late last year, USAPA hired its first alcohol policy lobbyist — one of very few focused on reducing alcohol-related harms — to create a healthier nation with lower financial impacts on the United States healthcare system.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) joint report, called the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), is updated every five years and provides advice on what to eat and drink. Current guidance calls for limiting men to two daily alcoholic drinks or fewer and, for women, one daily alcoholic drink or fewer. The DGAs define "one drink" as 12 ounces of beer (five percent alcohol), five ounces of wine (12 percent alcohol), or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits (40 percent alcohol).

In a report released today, the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) finds that drinking more than six to nine drinks per week — which is within the range of the current DGAs — begins to significantly raise the risk of alcohol-related death and cancer for both men and women. Even small amounts of alcohol increase cancer risk, with women facing a higher risk than men for the same level of drinking.

"Science tells us there are significant health risks associated with consuming alcohol at the amounts currently advised in the DGAs — in fact, for men, it's particularly deadly," adds Hall. "The ICCPUD report highlights the critical need to reduce alcohol harms by properly informing the public of the health risks of consuming alcohol. Combined with the Surgeon General's recent advisory on alcohol and cancer risk, the evidence is clear and indisputable. The fact that any amount of alcohol is harmful to your health can no longer be ignored."

Specifically, the report found that:

• Alcohol Decreases Life Expectancy: The risk of dying prematurely (before the age of 70) increases from 1 in 1,000 when consuming roughly three drinks per week to 1 in 100 when consuming roughly nine drinks per week.
• Alcohol Causes Cancer: Even consuming low amounts of alcohol (three drinks per week) increases the risk of cancer. For men, alcohol caused 6.6 per 1,000 cancer diagnoses; for women, alcohol caused 7.9 per 1,000 cancer diagnoses.
• Alcohol Impacts Women: Women are two to three times more likely to develop alcohol-related cancers than men — even when drinking at the same level. Per 1,000 cancer diagnoses, alcohol accounts for 8.2 cases for men and 19.5 cases for women (when drinking seven drinks per week). When drinking increased to 21 drinks per week, the disparities jumped to 22.6 and 66.9 per 1,000 cancer diagnoses for men and women, respectively.

USAPA is calling on the public to contact Congress to support the work of the ICCPUD.

The public is also invited to provide comments on the report to inform the DGA review process.

About the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance
Founded in 2014, the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance (USAPA or The Alliance) is the national voice on alcohol policy — working to change the narrative about alcohol, define an actionable agenda for policy-making on all levels, and build a movement driven by the truth that alcohol harms. Envisioning a nation free from alcohol-related disease, death, and injury, the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization is leading the fight to change America's relationship with alcohol by translating alcohol policy research into public health practice. To learn more about USAPA, including ways to support the organization, visit www.alcoholpolicy.org and follow on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and Instagram.

MEDIA CONTACT
Laura Ward
860.540.4725
[email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance