Alcohol consumption among youth of India: a secondary data analysis of NFHS-5 data

Background: Alcohol use contributes to 5.3% of global deaths and poses significant health risks to youth. Despite various regulatory measures by the authorities, alcohol remains a major public health concern in India. Objective: To examine the prevalence and patterns of alcohol consumption among Indian youth aged 15–24 years and identify factors associated with its use. Methods: Analysis of data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–21), involving 30,769 male and 241,983 female youth respondents aged 15–24 years. Results: Ever use of alcohol was reported by 10.9% of males and 0.3% of females. Among all regions northeast region demonstrated increased odds of having ever use among both males [AOR: 2.7 (1.86–3.88)] and females [AOR: 9.5 (6.91–11.5)], and married respondents were consuming more alcohol, males [AOR: 1.5 (1.14–2.10)] and females [AOR: 3.4 (2.72–4.19)]. Conclusion: Although youth alcohol consumption has decreased from NFHS-4 to NFHS-5, it still remains a concerning issue. But the continued variance in prevalence of regions calls for a unified national policy on alcohol. Targeted, region-specific strategies are needed to reduce youth alcohol use effectively. (Data were taken for NFHS-5 India 2019–21 from the Demographic and Health Survey website).