Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption

In the survey, conducted Jan. 30-Feb. 10, 2025, with over 1,700 U.S. adults, 56% say the regular consumption of alcohol increases your chances of later developing cancer, up from 40% in an Annenberg survey in September 2024. The percentage of those who say alcohol consumption has no effect on your chances of later developing cancer fell to 16% from 20% in September 2024, and fewer are not sure how alcohol consumption affects cancer risks (26%, down from 40%).

The survey was fielded less than a month after U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy's advisory on alcohol and cancer risk on Jan. 3, 2025. It called for updated warning labels on alcoholic beverage containers to indicate that drinking alcohol carries an increased risk for at least seven types of cancer, including breast, colon, and liver cancer.

The Surgeon General's warning, which was widely covered in the news media, was not the only report issued on alcohol and cancer in recent months, but the survey found it was the only one to gain significant public awareness. Of the people who say they had "read or heard about" one or more recent reports on the impact of alcohol on health, nearly 3 in 10 (29%) say they would be less likely to accept an alcoholic drink on a social occasion if one is offered to them.

"Our data suggest that the Surgeon General's synthesis of the science showing that alcohol consumption increases one's risk of cancer got traction," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. "The Surgeon General's impact is a reminder that what health officials communicate about science can affect behavior."

Reports on alcohol consumption and health

Nearly half of our survey respondents (48%) say they had "read or heard about" one or more reports on the impact of alcohol on health. In a separate question, 46% of those who say they were exposed to at least one report say the report they knew about was the Surgeon General's, though 44% were unsure which report they had encountered.

In its own report in December 2024, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) reviewed the scientific evidence on the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and health impacts, including mortality, cancer, weight, and cardiovascular disease. While this report noted the connection between moderate alcohol consumption and a higher risk of breast cancer, it listed positive and negative findings about alcohol consumption and various other health conditions. Another federal report from U.S. health agencies, led by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, on Jan. 14, 2025, found that even moderate drinking carried health risks, including liver disease, cancer, and injuries.

The survey found that very few among the public say they knew of those other reports.

After noting that moderate alcohol use is defined as one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men, the survey asked those who had seen or heard of only one report what it says about moderate alcohol use. Nearly half of those individuals (47%) say that, according to the report, moderate alcohol use "has harmful effects" and a quarter (25%) say it has some harmful and some positive health effects. One in 5 (20%) were not sure what the report says.

Did the reports have an effect?

The respondents who knew of at least one report on alcohol and health were asked if "anything that you have heard or read about the report(s)" made you more or less likely to accept a drink if one is offered on a social occasion, or if it had no effect. As noted above, nearly 1 in 3 (29%) say they would be less likely to accept an alcoholic drink if one is offered. But 61% say the report(s) would have no effect on whether they would accept an alcoholic drink. A very small group (9%) say they would be more likely to accept a drink.

Among the small group who report that something they heard or read about the report(s) made them more likely to accept a drink on a social occasion, most (73%) say they also would be more likely to accept a second drink if one is offered. About 1 in 5 (22%) say they'd be less likely to accept a second drink if offered.

APPC's Annenberg Science and Public Health knowledge survey

The survey data come from the 23rd wave of a nationally representative panel of 1,716 U.S. adults conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center by SSRS, an independent market research company. Most have been empaneled since April 2021. To account for attrition, small replenishment samples have been added over time using a random probability sampling design. The most recent replenishment, in September 2024, added 360 respondents to the sample. This wave of the Annenberg Science and Public Health Knowledge (ASAPH) survey was fielded Jan. 30-Feb. 10, 2025. The margin of sampling error (MOE) is ± 3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All figures are rounded to the nearest whole number and may not add to 100%. Combined subcategories may not add to totals in the topline and text due to rounding.

The policy center has been tracking the American public's knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors regarding vaccination, Covid-19, flu, RSV, and other consequential health issues through this survey panel for four years. In addition to Jamieson, APPC's team on the survey includes research analysts Laura A. Gibson and Shawn Patterson Jr., Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute, and Ken Winneg, managing director of survey research.