PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As we head into the holiday season, bottles will be uncorked and glasses will be clinking in celebration. However, only 40% of Americans are aware that regularly drinking alcohol increases the risk of developing cancer later on, according to new data from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that the risk of cancer can be lowered by cutting or stopping alcohol consumption altogether.
According to the APPC study, 40% said they were not sure whether that was true, while 20% erroneously responded that alcohol consumption would either have no effect or decrease the chance of developing cancer.
APPC Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson said the results are concerning.
“One of the reasons that matters this time of year is during the holiday season, you’ve got more opportunities to drink alcohol,” she said. “Media portrayal of alcohol increases the likelihood that you associated with social settings — people having fun — and as a result when you get to social settings, you associate that environment with consumption of alcohol.”
According to the CDC, more than half of U.S. adults drink alcohol, with about 70% binge drinking and 6% drinking heavily.
“As alcohol consumption increases, your risk increases,” Hall Jamieson said. “So the basic message is, there’s a cancer risk there. Best if you can make the choice not to drink at all, but if you’re going to drink, drink in moderation.”
She said there needs to be balanced messaging surrounding the risks and a shift in social norms.
“Can we take those things that we associate with alcohol consumption and minimize the likelihood that we’re going to consume alcohol in excess, or alcohol at all, for some of us? I’m a cancer survivor. I shouldn’t drink alcohol. I go up to that table and say, ‘I’d like a club soda please, on the rocks.’”