Baby boomer booze alert
Five-fold rise in over-65s needing treatment as youngsters cut back
THE number of over-65s being treated for alcohol abuse has soared nearly five-fold in little more than a decade.
It comes as middle-aged Britons replace the young as the nation’s problem drinkers, according to official figures.
Experts warn that the ‘baby boomer’ generation is in denial over alcohol, with dementia, cancer and liver disease on the rise as a result.
Teenagers used to be considered Britain’s biggest drinkers, but experts are now more worried by older shoppers who order wine from supermarkets and consume it at home every day.
Dr Tony Rao of the Royal College of Psychiatrists said older drinkers tend not to accept they have a problem.
‘There is a huge amount of denial,’ he said.
‘Whereas millennials and younger groups are more likely to make healthy choices, the older age groups are aware of the problems but they are not willing to make changes.’
Public Health England figures show that 37,000 patients aged 50 and over received alcohol treatment in 2017/18, compared with 33,600 under-35s.
In 2005/06 – the first year the figures were recorded – 10,000 over-50s and 26,000 under-35s were treated. The starkest rise is among over-65s, up nearly five-fold over the 13 years. Some 4,429 were treated in 2017/18 compared with only 940 in 2005/2006.
Alcohol treatment for the youngest groups has, by contheir
‘There’s a huge amount of denial’
trast, dropped – by 30 per cent for under-20s, and 8 per cent for those aged 20 to 24.
Dr Rao, who analysed the figures, said many women only start drinking heavily in middle age – often due to empty-nest loneliness or bereavement – whereas men are more likely to have drunk more and more throughout lives. ‘Older women are more likely to self-medicate,’ he said.
‘If you look at people who start drinking later in life, they are more likely to be women than men. They are more likely to be responding to financial issues, bereavement or loneliness.’
Modern trends have also seen younger Britons turning away from alcohol, he noted. ‘Peer pressure is much less strong in young people now,’ he said. ‘But with older groups socialising tends to involve alcohol.’
Katherine Severi, chief executive of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said: ‘The baby boomer generation have become one of the most vulnerable sections of society. They are drinking more frequently and in greater quantities than their parents and are subsequently faced with greater rates of liver disease, cancer and mental health problems.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Our new Alcohol Framework sets out our next steps on tackling alcohol-related harm. Behind each statistic is a person, a family, a community struggling with the impact of alcohol harms.
‘Scotland is leading the world with the introduction of minimum unit pricing – an innovative solution to the public health challenges associated with alcohol that will save lives, recognising that an unhealthy relationship with alcohol is a public health issue at all ages.’