The results of the study should be taken into account by those countries that actively practice social exclusion, sociologists say.
Since the beginning of pandemic and introduction of norms for social distancing and isolation, Americans are consuming more alcohol by almost 15%. The change in drinking behavior of women is significantly high and stands at 40% whereas it is 19 % among young people. The study was published by JAMA Network Open, an open-access medical journal published by the American Medical Association.
Before the study, a report of RAND research center in Santa Monica highlighted that the alcohol industry has seen a rise of 262% in online sales and a 54% rise in turnover since the beginning of Covid-19.
To study this trend in details, the scientists decided to analyze the data of the American Life Panel project, which studied the drinking habits of about six thousand volunteers, obtained in late spring 2020 and 2019.
The study published in the journal has reported that in isolation, consumption of alcohol has gone up by 40 % among women and by 19 % among the young people. The results of the study are an outcome of data collected from six thousand Individuals in 2019 and spring of 2020 by American life panel Project, an organization that study the drinking habits among Americans. Looking at the results, scientists have warned the countries of the negative impact of promoting policies of social isolation and other restrictive practices to fight the coronavirus.
To reduce the consequences of increased consumption of alcohol during pandemic the Government in South Africa has put a ban on the sale of alcohol. The measure was taken in order to reduce patients of alcohol-related injury in the hospitals, the policy will help in making more beds available for people suffering from coronavirus.
