Less wet and happy parties, but more frustrated drinking on the couch: During the pandemic, new drinking habits have crept into many people.

In the first Corona year, significantly fewer young heavy drinkers came to the hospital.

According to the Kaufmännische Krankenkasse (KKH), around 12,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 18 were treated as inpatients across Germany for alcohol poisoning in 2020.

In the previous year it was 17,000, the health insurance company announced on Wednesday.

In a Forsa survey commissioned by the KKH, however, 13 percent of 16 to 29-year-olds said that they had been drinking more since the pandemic began.  

Anna Schiller

Volunteer.

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This development can also be observed in the general European population, says the alcohol epidemiologist Carolin Kilian, who researches alcohol consumption at the Technical University of Dresden.

An online survey she carried out at the beginning of 2020 came to the result that there were fewer so-called binge drinking episodes among adults.

Scientists refer to occasions as such when women drink more than two large glasses of beer, for example.

For men, the limit is three glasses.

European studies suggest that drinking will move to home during the pandemic.

"With the first corona wave, there were fewer opportunities to drink alcohol," Kilian explains the development.

For example, celebrations have been canceled and some municipalities have even introduced temporary and local alcohol bans.

Even one beer a day is problematic

"There is a significant proportion of people who have increased their consumption," she says.

In particular, people who perceived the pandemic as stressful were more likely to use bottles.

This applies, for example, to parents who tried to use alcohol to cope with the stress of working from home and taking care of children at home.

"We have to expect that more people will suffer from the consequences of their alcohol consumption during and after the pandemic," says Kilian.

Drinking is risky for women from as little as twelve grams of pure alcohol per day, for men from twice that amount.

Half a liter of beer contains around 20 grams of pure alcohol.

Women damage their health with just one glass a day.

“However, people have moved away from saying that alcohol consumption is unproblematic.” The consumption of small amounts of alcohol can also have an impact on health, such as breast cancer.

Parents as role models

The pandemic threatens to undo positive developments in the past.

In the years before the pandemic, there was still a slight decline in alcohol-related diseases.

Sales statistics have also shown that less and less alcohol was drunk, says Kilian.

In 2010, 11.6 liters of pure alcohol were consumed per capita.

In 2019 this value was 10.6 liters.

According to this, adults drank around 40 fewer large beers per year.

The Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) recommends parents to check their drinking habits, also in the interests of their children.

Parents are important points of orientation for young people - this also applies to alcohol consumption.

It is therefore important that parents see themselves as role models for their children, the BZgA announced.

Some teenagers felt isolated by the restricted contact and social life.

Such emotional states could be associated with a risk of increased alcohol consumption.